We have received news that former Lockheed U-2 pilot Wang Hsi-chueh passed away in February this year. Wang was famous for defecting to China by hijacking China Airlines Flight 334 on May 3, 1986.
Wang completed his training on the U-2 in the United States in 1963 and flew his first U-2 operational mission on Jul. 7, 1964 over Shanghai. He was one of three pilots who had completed 10 missions over China. The mission was so dangerous that each tour over China was only 10 flights.
During a flight to Lanzhou on Nov. 26, 1964, Wang’s U-2 was attacked by three SA-2 missiles. The electronic countermeasure system on the spyplane worked for the first time and defeated the attack. The infrared film on the U-2 captured the attack as it took place.
He retired from the Air Force in 1967 and joined China Airlines as a commercial pilot. He flew Boeing 707, 727 and 747 during his time with the airline.
Wang would become famous not for his exploits flying the U-2 into China but for his defection in 1986. He had left behind his father and brothers in China when he followed the Nationalist government to Taiwan in 1949. He was reunited with his family in Hong Kong in 1984. After that meeting, Wang decided that he will defect to China.
On May 3, 1986, Wang was the captain of China Airlines Flight 334. He and two other crew members were flying the Boeing 747-200F from Singapore to Hong Kong with a stopover in Thailand. After take off from Don Muen, Wang sent flight engineer Chiu Ming-chih to the cargo bay and subdued the co-pilot Tung Kuang-hsing with an emergency axe. He flew the plane over Hong Kong and aimed for Guangzhou Baiyun airport. Once he landed, he was surprised that no one turned up to welcome him. Eventually, a man cycled to the aircraft. He was the deputy head for the Civil Aviation Agency’s Guangzhou office. Because of the May Day holidays, he told Wang that he was the only person working that day.
Wang eventually flew to Beijing on May 6 to a hero’s welcome.
The defection ended Taiwan’s Three Noes policy and forced it to negotiate with China for the release of the 747 and the other crew members. The freighter was eventually flown to Hong Kong on May 23. This paved the way for families who were separated by the war to be reunited one year later.
Sadly, the 747 with registration B-198 crashed in 1991 after two of its engines broke away in flight, killing five onboard.