From HT Archives: Air India plane crashes in botched assassination bid
A chartered Air India flight carrying passengers bound for the Asian-African Conference crashed in the South China Sea in 1955. Investigations revealed it was a botched assassination attempt on Chinese premier Zhou Enlai by the Kuomintang. The time bomb that caused the crash was planted by a janitor at Hong Kong airport who was an agent of Kuomintang. Eleven passengers and four crew members died in the crash, while three crew members survived. The incident resulted in the posthumous award of India's highest peacetime military award to the pilot, stewardess, and survivors.