Bombing Philippine Airlines Flight 434

1 bombing

1.1 setting bomb
1.2 explosion
1.3 landing

bombing
setting bomb

ei-bwf, aircraft involved, in december 1988

yousef boarded aircraft manila cebu leg of flight. plane departed manila @ 5:35 a.m. after plane airborne, went lavatory dopp kit in hand , took off shoes out batteries, wiring, , spark source hidden in heel (below level metal detectors in use @ time detect anything). yousef removed modified casio digital watch wrist used timer, unpacked remaining materials dopp kit, , assembled bomb. set timer 4 hours later, approximately time @ plane far out on ocean en route tokyo, put entire bomb dopp kit, , returned current seat.

after asking flight attendant permission move seat 26k, saying better view seat, yousef moved seat , tucked assembled bomb life vest pocket under seat. exited aircraft in cebu. philippine domestic flight attendant maria de la cruz noticed yousef had switched seats during course of manila cebu flight , got off plane in cebu domestic cabin crew, did not pass information along international flight crew boarded @ cebu trip tokyo. 25 other passengers got off plane @ cebu, 256 more passengers , new cabin crew boarded plane final leg of flight tokyo.

explosion

flight 434 landed in cebu @ 6:50 a.m., after flight time of 1 hour 15 minutes. @ 8:38 a.m., after 38-minute delay, due airport congestion, plane took off total of 273 passengers on board, among them, 24-year-old haruki ikegami (池上春樹, ikegami haruki), japanese industrial sewing machine maker returning business trip cebu, occupying seat 26k. @ 11:43 a.m., 4 hours after yousef planted bomb, device exploded underneath ikegami, killing him , injuring additional 10 passengers in adjacent seats in front of , behind seat 26k. blast blew off two-square-foot (0.2 m²) portion of cabin floor, , cabin s rapid expansion explosion severed several control cables in ceiling controlled plane s right aileron, cables connected both captain , first officer s steering controls.

what kept disaster being worse particular 747, formerly operated scandinavian airlines se-dfz knut viking , had different seating configuration , seat 26k 2 rows forward of center fuel tank hole in floor punched through cargo hold instead, sparing plane fiery explosion.

the bomb s orientation, positioned front-to-back , upward angled horizontal, caused blast expand vertically , lengthwise. configuration meant ikegami s body absorbed of blast force , plane s outer structure spared. lower half of body fell cargo hold , ten passengers sitting in seats in front of , behind ikegami injured; 1 needed urgent medical care. additionally, 38-minute delay in takeoff cebu meant plane not far out sea anticipated, contributed captain s options available emergency landing.

masaharu mochizuki, passenger on flight, recalled passengers, both injured , uninjured, tried move away blast site, cabin crew told passengers remain until assessment of situation made. assistant purser , lead economy class flight attendant, fernando bayot, moved injured passenger named yukihiko osui away bomb site. bayot saw ikegami , tried pull him out of hole, realized of ikegami s body below waist either damaged or missing entirely. ikegami died minutes later. bayot called flight attendant on pretend minister ikegami s needs blanket , oxygen mask in order prevent additional panic, reported extent of passenger injuries cockpit.

cabin crew members, later commended president fidel ramos professional handling of potentially disastrous situation along flight deck crew, flight purser isidro mangahas, jr., flight stewards fernando bayot, agustin azurin, ronnie macapagal, e. reyes, r. santiago, flight attendants m. alvar, alpha nicolasin, cynthia tengonciang, andre palma, socorro mendoza, e. co, l. garcia, n. dela cruz, adora altarejos, l. abella , japanese interpreter k. okada.

landing

immediately after explosion, aircraft banked hard right, autopilot corrected bank. after blast, captain reyes asked systems engineer dexter comendador survey blast site check damage. reyes placed mayday call, requesting landing @ naha airport, okinawa island, okinawa prefecture. japanese air traffic controller experienced difficulty in trying understand reyes request, american air traffic controller united states military base on okinawa took on , processed reyes landing. american air traffic controller directed usaf lear jet towards pal 434 visually check damage of outer fuselage , verify landing gear in place. autopilot had stopped responding reyes commands , aircraft flew past okinawa.

reyes said in interview canadian television series mayday when disengaged autopilot feared aircraft bank right again , crew lose control of aircraft; however, because of pressing need land attend injured , inspect plane additional damage, reyes instructed herrera take hold of own controls , reyes deactivated autopilot. aircraft did not bank after disengagement of autopilot, neither respond steering inputs either controller due control cable damage caused bomb. crew struggled use ailerons, allow aircraft roll still unable change plane s direction. flight crew, including first officer jaime herrera , comendador, disengaged auto-throttles , resorted steering via throttle control, reminiscent of united airlines flight 232.

by using throttles steer plane, reducing air speed both control radius of turns , allow plane descend, , dumping fuel lessen strain on landing gear, captain landed damaged 747 @ naha airport @ 12:45 p.m., 1 hour after bomb exploded. aircraft s other 272 passengers , 20 crew members survived.