China Airlines Flight 358

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China Airlines Cargo Flight 358
China Airlines Cargo Boeing 747-200F Rees.jpg
B-198, the aircraft involved in the accident, 1985.
Accident
DateDecember 29, 1991
SummaryEngine detachment due to improper maintenance
SiteWanli, Taiwan
Aircraft
Aircraft typeBoeing 747-2R7F/SCD
OperatorChina Airlines
IATA flight No.CI358
ICAO flight No.CAL358
Call signDYNASTY 358
RegistrationB-198
Flight originChiang Kai-shek Int'l Airport
Taipei, Taiwan
DestinationAnchorage International Airport
Anchorage, Alaska, United States
Occupants5
Passengers0
Crew5
Fatalities5
Survivors0

China Airlines Flight 358 was a Boeing 747-2R7F/SCD freighter that crashed on December 29, 1991 shortly after takeoff from Chiang Kai-shek International Airport in Taipei, Taiwan.

Aircraft[]

The aircraft was a Boeing 747-2R7F/SCD, built in September 1980 for Cargolux as the "City of Esch-sur-Alzette," registration LX-ECV, MSN 22390. It was acquired by China Airlines in June 1985 was given its registration of B-198. It has been in service for 11 years, 3 months.[1] The aircraft had clocked a total of 45,868 hours of flight time during its time in service. The last A-check maintenance had occurred on December 21, 1991, and the aircraft had accumulated 74 hours of flight time since that point.[1]

Accident[]

Several minutes after takeoff, the crew reported problems with the #2 engine, prompting Taipei air traffic control (ATC) to vector the flight into a left turn to return to the airport. Approximately two minutes later, the crew reported that they were unable to turn left, and ATC approved a right-hand turn instead. This was the last radio contact made by the crew. The crew lost control of the aircraft and it struck a hill, right wing first, near Wanli, Taipei. The crash occurred at approximately 3:05 PM, at an altitude of 700 feet.[1] All five crew members died in the crash, and there were no injuries on the ground.

Investigation[]

The subsequent investigation revealed that the number 3 engine and its pylon had separated from the aircraft and struck the number 4 engine, breaking it off the wing as well.[1] A more detailed investigation revealed that the pylon midspar fittings, which attach the pylon to the lower portion of the wing front spar, had failed.[citation needed] The search for the number 3 engine and its pylon, which landed in the sea, took several months.

Information from the investigation of this crash and the nearly identical crash of El Al Flight 1862 10 months later resulted in Boeing ordering pylon modifications to every 747 in use.[2]

The aircraft was the same one involved in the China Airlines Flight 334 hijacking on May 3, 1986.

Trivia[]

  • It was briefly mentioned in the Mayday episode "High Rise Catastrophe" which focused on El Al Flight 1862, but the flight number wasn't mentioned.

See also[]

  • Aviation safety – Metal fatigue
  • American Airlines Flight 191 – May 25, 1979 – A DC-10 which also suffered a fatigue-induced pylon failure.
  • El Al Flight 1862 - October 4, 1992 – Another 747 which also suffered a fatigue-induced pylon failure of almost exactly the same nature; engine number 3 broke off and hit number 4, breaking it off as well.
  • Trans-Air Service Flight 671 - a similar failure of an engine pylon on a Boeing 707, resulting in the loss of both engines on the right-hand side; although the pilots were able to land safely, the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.
  • Reeve Aleutian Airways Flight 8

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b c d Accident description at the Aviation Safety Network
  2. ^ "Aircraft accident report 92-11 : El Al Flight 1862 Boeing 747-258F 4X-AXG Bijlmermeer, Amsterdam 4 October 1992" (PDF). Nederlands Aviation Safety Board. 24 February 1994. Archived from the original on 26 June 2008.

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