Philippine Airlines Flight 215 was a domestic Philippine Airlines flight from Cauayan Airport to Manila International Airport which exploded en route to Manila on April 21, 1970.
Aircraft The aircraft was a Hawker Siddeley HS-748 Series 2 and was manufactured in 1968, before being delivered to Philippine Airlines registered as PI-C1022.
Crash At 11:34am, captain Diego Liwag requested permission to make an instrument approach to Manila. Shortly after, while the aircraft was cruising at , a bomb exploded in the aircraft's lavatory leading to a rapid decompression and a complete separation of the tail section, leading into an uncontrolled descent and in-flight breakup before crashing into a rural area near Cabanatuan, Nueva Ecija.Fatal Events Since 1970 for Philippine Air Lines
The flight was around from Manila when the explosion occurred. All 32 passengers and 4 crew were killed in the incident, and wreckage was strewn across a wide area.
Investigation and aftermath A bomb in the lavatory was the determined cause of the incident, though it was not able to be traced to an exact source. Possible causes included a suicide bombing, political sabotage contributed by limited airport security development at the time, though in the end was marked as "unlawful interference".
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