Philippine Airlines

Philippine Airlines, also known as PAL, is the national airline of the Philippines. It was the first airline in Asia and the oldest of those currently in operation. With its corporate headquarters in Makati City, Philippine Airlines flies both domestic and international flights. As of 2005, it claims to serve twenty-one domestic airports and thirty-one foreign cities. Its main hub is Ninoy Aquino International Airport in the capital city of Manila. Its principal Asian competitors are China Airlines and Japan Airlines.

Incidents and Accidents

• On December 11, 1994, a small bomb exploded below the seat of a Japanese businessman on Philippine Airlines Flight 434. The businessman perished, but none of the aircraft's other 293 passengers and crew were killed. The Boeing 747-200 landed safely. Investigators later found that Ramzi Yousef, a terrorist suspected of being a part of Al-Qaida, planted the bomb there to test it out for a terrorist attack he was planning, Project Bojinka. The plan was foiled after an apartment fire in Manila led investigators to the laptop computer and disks containing the plan.
• In March 22, 1998, Philippine Airlines Flight 137, an Airbus A320 crashed and overran the runway of Bacolod City Domestic Airport, plowing through homes near it. No one of the passengers and crew died, but many were injured and three on the ground were killed.
• In 2000, Philippine Airlines Flight 812, en route from Davao City to Manila, was hijacked by a man with marital problems. The crisis ended near Antipolo City, wherein the hijacker escaped through a parachute, with none of the other passengers and crew being injured or killed.