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Vietnam Civil Aviation Flight 501

28 Jun 1978 · Tam Ky, Quang Nam – Da Nang Province, Vietnam

Douglas DC-4-1009 · Hijacking

From Da Nang International Airport (DAD) to Tan Son Nhat International Airport (SGN)

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Event

Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
Accident
Event fatalities
4 · all aircraft and ground
Ground fatalities
Unknown
Occupants
67
Survivors
63
InjuriesFatal: death within 30 days. Serious: over 48 hours in hospital within a week, most broken bones, severe bleeding, nerve or organ damage, or serious burns. Minor: anything less. Glossary
Unknown
OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
Airline

Douglas DC-4-1009

Aircraft type
Douglas DC-4
Category
Airplane · from aircraft type
RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
VN-C501
Onboard fatalities
4
Route
From Da Nang International Airport (DAD)To Tan Son Nhat International Airport (SGN)

Approximate · Estimated position: Tam Kỳ, the place the Wikipedia article names. Not the accident site.

From the Wikipedia article

On June 28, 1978, Vietnam Civil Aviation Flight 501, departing from Da Nang International Airport to Phung Duc Airport, Buon Ma Thuot, Dak Lak Province, was hijacked by four men armed with Makarov pistols, knives and grenades. The hijackers engaged in a gunfight with the crew and security personnel. During the gunfight, three of the four hijackers were killed by exploding grenades and fell from the plane, while the remaining hijacker was captured. The plane was written off a few months after the hijacking.

This was the second hijacking of a Vietnam Airlines plane (after Vietnam Civil Aviation Flight 509 hijacking) and is considered one of the bloodiest hijackings to occur in Vietnam.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Vietnam Civil Aviation Flight 501” (revision 1370393908, retrieved 2026-09-18) by its authors, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Extracted as plain text: references, tables, images and some sections are left out. Read the article

Sources

Wikipedia article: Vietnam Civil Aviation Flight 501
Article
Vietnam Civil Aviation Flight 501
Revision
1370393908 · 2026-08-20 · retrieved 2026-09-18
Wikidata
Q136399935
Licence
Text CC BY-SA 4.0, by the article's authors; Wikidata CC0; town positions GeoNames (CC BY 4.0)
Where each value comes from
Record
Wikipedia article "Vietnam Civil Aviation Flight 501" (page 80557318, revision 1370393908)
Date
Wikipedia infobox: date
Place and country
Wikipedia infobox: site
Map position
place the Wikipedia infobox site links (Wikidata coordinates)
Aircraft, operator and route
Wikipedia infobox: aircraft type, registration, operator, origin and destination; route airports from the linked airport articles' Wikidata codes (OurAirports)
Operation
flight number in the article title
Fatalities
Wikipedia infobox: aircraft fatalities
Ground fatalities
not stated in the Wikipedia infobox
Summary
Wikipedia infobox: summary
Source notes (1)
  • Wikipedia · Facts from the Wikipedia article's infobox and coordinates, not checked against an investigation report. Independent review pending.