The Kweilin Incident
from The Dave Bowman Show
On August 24, 1938, the world crossed a terrible new threshold. A China National Aviation Corporation Douglas DC-2 named Kweilin lifted off from Hong Kong with eighteen people aboard. It was clearly marked as a civilian aircraft, painted with mail insignia and the letters CNAC across its wings. But that did not matter to the Japanese fighters that intercepted it over the Pearl River. The pilot, an American named Hugh Woods, managed a brilliant emergency landing on the water, saving everyone from the initial attack. Then came the unthinkable. The fighters circled back and strafed the helpless airliner and its passengers until fifteen were dead. This was the first time in history a civilian airliner had been deliberately shot down. In today’s episode of Dave Does History, we revisit the Kweilin Incident, the survivors, the victims, and the way this single act of brutality changed the history of aviation.
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