1979 CAAC Hawker Siddeley Trident theft and crash
Hawker Siddeley HS.121 Trident 2E · The 1979 CAAC Hawker Siddeley Trident theft and crash occurred on 14 March 1979
From Beijing-Xijiao Airport, People's Republic of China to Beijing-Xijiao Airport, People's Republic of China
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
- Unknown
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- Occupants
- Unknown
- Survivors
- 0
- 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
- 200
- 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
- Unknown
Hawker Siddeley HS.121 Trident 2E
- Aircraft type
- Hawker Siddeley HS-121
- 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
- B-274
- Operator
- Caac
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From Beijing-Xijiao Airport, People's Republic of ChinaTo Beijing-Xijiao Airport, People's Republic of China
Approximate · Estimated position: Beijing, the place the Wikipedia article names. Not the accident site.
From the Wikipedia article
The 1979 CAAC Hawker Siddeley Trident theft and crash occurred on 14 March 1979. On that day, a Hawker Siddeley HS.121 Trident 2E, which had been stolen the same day at Beijing-Xijiao Airport, crashed shortly after its takeoff run from that very airport.
Accident sequence
An aircraft mechanic who was familiar with the HS.121 Trident aircraft type boarded the aircraft alone and taxied to the takeoff point without having received a corresponding takeoff clearance. After takeoff the aircraft barely gained altitude and crashed onto a factory.
Differing accounts of the accident
According to other sources, the aircraft had not been stolen but was on a training flight with twelve people on board. The figures regarding the number of victims also vary – while more conservative figures speak of 32 victims on the ground and one pilot, there are also figures reporting 180 fatalities on the ground and 12 on board the aircraft.
Investigation and cause
Cause
The authorities assumed that the aircraft mechanic's presumed motive was revenge, as he had felt unfairly treated during his time with the Chinese Air Force.
Translated into English with AI assistance from the German Wikipedia article “Diebstahl und Absturz einer Hawker Siddeley Trident der CAAC 1979” (revision 258175226, retrieved 2026-09-19) by its authors, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Extracted as plain text: references, tables, images and some sections are left out; the translation may contain errors, and long articles were cut to their first 700 words. Read the article
Sources
German Wikipedia article: Diebstahl und Absturz einer Hawker Siddeley Trident der CAAC 1979
- Translation
- Into English with AI assistance; names of linked operators and aircraft types from Wikidata. It may contain errors.
- Revision
- 258175226 · 2025-07-21 · retrieved 2026-09-19
- Wikidata
- Q127253395
- 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
- de Wikipedia article "Diebstahl und Absturz einer Hawker Siddeley Trident der CAAC 1979" (page 12861922, revision 258175226), translated into English with AI assistance
- 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
- not stated in the Wikipedia article's infobox or opening paragraph
- Fatalities
- not stated in the Wikipedia infobox
- Ground fatalities
- not stated in the Wikipedia infobox
- Summary
- Wikipedia article lead
Source notes (2)
- Wikipedia · Facts from the German Wikipedia article's infobox, translated into English with AI assistance, not checked against an investigation report. Independent review pending.
- The Wikipedia infobox gives the ground fatalities as a range or estimate rather than a number, so the total is not stated here.