Philippine Airlines Flight 812

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**Philippine Airlines Flight 812**
Summary
Date	25 May 2000
Type	Aircraft hijacking
Site	Davao City, Philippines
Passengers	278
Crew	13
Injuries	0
Fatalities	1 (Hijacker)
Survivors	290
Aircraft type	Airbus A330-301
Operator	Philippine Airlines
Flight origin	Francisco Bangoy International Airport
Destination	Ninoy Aquino International Airport

Philippine Airlines Flight 812 was a scheduled passenger flight from Francisco Bangoy International Airport in Davao City to Ninoy Aquino International Airport near Manila. On May 25, 2000, an Airbus A330-301 operating on the route was hijacked by a man later identified as Reginald Chua^[1], just before the airplane was about to land. The flight carried 278 passengers and 13 crew members.

The hijacker demanded the passengers to place their valuables in a bag before he commanded the pilot to descend and depressurize the aircraft so that he could escape by a homemade parachute made of nylon with a curtain sash for a ripcord. Before he was about to jump, he panicked and clung to the rear door, and a male flight attendant pushed him out of the plane.

The hijacker was wearing a ski mask and swimming goggles when he jumped out of the plane together with the valuables he had stolen while the plane was flying at an altitude of 1,800 meters over Antipolo, Rizal. Officials initially identified him as "Augusto Lakandula", based on the name on his ticket. The pilot expressed skepticism that the hijacker would have survived the jump.^[2]

Three days after the hijacking, the hijacker was found dead, his body nearly buried in the mud, in the village of Llabac, in Real, Quezon, about 70 kilometers southeast of Manila, near the border with Laguna province. Through his driver's license, "Lakandula" was finally correctly identified as Reginald Chua.