The posting of flight simmer Alex D. Nicolson's extraordinary talent has prompted me to retell the story of Cathay Pacific's Miss Macao - a Catalina PBY-5A whose tragic loss is recorded in history as the world's first air-piracy for material gain. I have used his splendid graphics of the Miss Macao and his equally spectacular reproduction of the Kai Tak Airport of the late 1948s to enhance my story. Alex Nicolson's work can be downloaded from avsim.net via the file library.

The saga began on the afternoon of July 16, 1948 with the Miss Macao leaving Kai Tak Airport under the command of Capt. Dale Cramer. His crew was F/O Keith "Ken" McDuff with the popular gentle air-hostess Delca de Costa looking after a full load of excited passengers anxious to get to the gaming tables of Macao's famous Casino. Also aboard was Bob Frost, Cathay's Sales and Traffic Manager, who, on a whim, decided to take the seat made vacant when the famous Australian writer, Alan Marshal's pain-riddled legs prevented him from going. Then Alan was composing a series of travel brochures for Cathay.The flight was uneventful and the Miss Macao was soon gently bobbing at her buoy in Macao's Outer Harbour.

The fateful return flight began with Delca helping 23 passengers negotiate the lip of the loading blister and get them comfortably seated .Capt. Dale Cramer opening the throttles of Miss Macao and slipped her off the muddy waters of the Macao inner harbour. At a safe altitude he began a gentle right turn that took him across the Macao slums to settle on the fair-weather course for the Crown Colony of Hong Kong. His altitude was 1,000 feet.

F/O Ken McDuff casually climbed out of the co-pilot's seat to raise the wing floats that were activated from the engineer's tower. He was accosted by two men brandishing guns. One thrust his weapon into Ken's stomach and the other (the leader, a trained PBY pilot) slammed his gun against the base of Dale's neck and demanded he relinquish command. Ken grabbed the light flag-post rod, used to fly-the-flag outside the pilot's window, and slashed at the intruder. This surprise attack forced the villain backwards who bumped into his leader whose finger tightened on the trigger.The shot brought a frenzy of firing from all the pirates. Meanwhile, Dale's lifeless body slumped over the controls, the plane hurled into the muddy waters of the Pearl River estuary and within seconds the lives of all but one had ended.

The regular features of lone survivor Wong Yu hides the black heart of a conniving villain. With no legislation to handle such crimes he was finally released by the Portuguese authorities and deported to China where he was eliminated by the Chinese authorities - they didn't want him either! We had lost some wonderful colleagues, but what of our future, could our struggling infant company overcome this frightful set back. Fortunately, the new Swire leadership was strong and resourceful. Today Cathay Pacific Airways is the envy of the World's carriers. The Company is preparing to celebrate its 60th Anniversary, doubtless, in grand style.

(Author's note: The full version of this story can be found in my Syd's Last Pirate C..) .