Lin Biao incident
The Lin Biao incident (Chinese: 九一三事件) refers to a plane crash that involved Vice Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party Lin Biao, in which he died when an aircraft carrying him and several members of his family crashed in Mongolia at 3 a.m. on 13 September 1971, allegedly after attempting to assassinate Mao and defect to the Soviet Union. Following Lin's death, there has been widespread skepticism in the West concerning the official Chinese explanation, while forensic investigation conducted by the USSR (which recovered the bodies following the crash) has confirmed that Lin was among those who died in the crash.
A Hawker Siddeley Trident, similar to the aircraft involved | |
| Occurrence | |
|---|---|
| Date | 13 September 1971 |
| Summary | Cause disputed:
• Fuel starvation (Chinese government) • Controlled flight into terrain due to undertermined reasons, possible pilot error (Soviet medical experts) |
| Site | Near Öndörkhaan, Mongolian People's Republic |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | Hawker Siddeley HS-121 Trident 1E |
| Operator | People's Liberation Army Air Force |
| Registration | B-256 |
| Flight origin | Qinhuangdao Shanhaiguan Airport, Qinhuangdao, Hebei Province, China |
| Destination | Soviet Union |
| Passengers | 5 |
| Crew | 4 |
| Fatalities | 9 (all) |
| Survivors | 0 |