Qualla: Kweilin Incident https://qualla.com/kweilin-incident en-us © 2026 Bendyline Thu, 23 Jul 2026 20:34:18 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/0/8/kweilin-incident-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Kweilin Incident https://qualla.com/kweilin-incident Kweilin Incident: Introduction https://qualla.com/kweilin-incident/ Photo credit Turkmenistan.airlines.frontview.arp.jpg: elfuser derivative work: Elfuser (talk), Public domain. On the morning of 24 August 1938, a Douglas DC-2 operated by China National Aviation Corporation lifted off from Hong Kong's Kai Tak Airport carrying fourteen passengers and four crew. Its name was painted on the fuselage: Kweilin. The markings on its wings clearly identified it as a civilian aircraft. About thirty minutes after takeoff, Japanese fighters intercepted it over the Pearl River Delta near Zhongshan. They opened fire. The plane ditched on the Pearl River. Then, for roughly an hour, the fighters circled and continued strafing the wreck and the people in the water. Fifteen of the eighteen people aboard were killed. The Kweilin incident entered history as the first time a civilian airliner had ever been brought down by hostile military aircraft.

Read more: Kweilin Incident on Qualla

Image: Turkmenistan.airlines.frontview.arp.jpg: elfuser derivative work: Elfuser (talk) | Public domain

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/0/8/kweilin-incident-wp/ws08-kweilin-incident-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Kweilin Incident: The Passengers and Crew https://qualla.com/kweilin-incident/ Photo credit Turkmenistan.airlines.frontview.arp.jpg: elfuser derivative work: Elfuser (talk), Public domain. Among the eighteen people aboard the Kweilin that morning were three of China's most prominent bankers. Hu Bijiang, 58 years old, was Chairman of the Bank of Communications. Xu Xinliu, 49, was General Manager of the National Commercial Bank. Wang Yumei was an executive of the Cen...

Read more: Kweilin Incident on Qualla

Image: Turkmenistan.airlines.frontview.arp.jpg: elfuser derivative work: Elfuser (talk) | Public domain

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/0/8/kweilin-incident-wp/ws08-kweilin-incident-the-passengers-and-crew.mp3 0:06 2 full Kweilin Incident: A Shadow Theory https://qualla.com/kweilin-incident/ Photo credit Turkmenistan.airlines.frontview.arp.jpg: elfuser derivative work: Elfuser (talk), Public domain. Why did Japanese fighters attack a clearly marked civilian aircraft? One theory circulated in diplomatic channels almost immediately: the real target was Sun Fo, the only son of Sun Yat-sen — the founding father of the Chinese Republic — who was believed to be on the Kweilin that...

Read more: Kweilin Incident on Qualla

Image: Turkmenistan.airlines.frontview.arp.jpg: elfuser derivative work: Elfuser (talk) | Public domain

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/0/8/kweilin-incident-wp/ws08-kweilin-incident-a-shadow-theory.mp3 0:06 3 full Kweilin Incident: First of Its Kind https://qualla.com/kweilin-incident/ Photo credit Turkmenistan.airlines.frontview.arp.jpg: elfuser derivative work: Elfuser (talk), Public domain. The attack was widely covered in the international press, in part because of its novelty. No civilian airliner had ever before been destroyed by military aircraft. The incident provoked diplomatic outrage, particularly in the United States, where it helped reinforce public opinio...

Read more: Kweilin Incident on Qualla

Image: Turkmenistan.airlines.frontview.arp.jpg: elfuser derivative work: Elfuser (talk) | Public domain

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/0/8/kweilin-incident-wp/ws08-kweilin-incident-first-of-its-kind.mp3 0:06 4 full Kweilin Incident: The Plane That Came Back https://qualla.com/kweilin-incident/ Photo credit Turkmenistan.airlines.frontview.arp.jpg: elfuser derivative work: Elfuser (talk), Public domain. The Kweilin itself was salvaged from the Pearl River. It was rebuilt, renumbered, and renamed the Chungking — reportedly because CNAC judged that keeping the name Kweilin on the aircraft would unsettle passengers who knew its history. On 29 October 1940, the Chungking was attacke...

Read more: Kweilin Incident on Qualla

Image: Turkmenistan.airlines.frontview.arp.jpg: elfuser derivative work: Elfuser (talk) | Public domain

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/0/8/kweilin-incident-wp/ws08-kweilin-incident-the-plane-that-came-back.mp3 0:06 5 full