China Airlines Flight 140
Encyclopedia
China Airlines Flight 140 was a route from Taipei
, Taiwan
to Nagoya, Japan. On 26 April 1994, the Airbus A300
on the route was due to land at Nagoya Airport. The Airbus A300
was completing a routine flight and approach, when, just before landing, the First Officer pressed the Takeoff/Go-around button (also known as a TO/GA) which raises the throttle position to the same as take offs and go-arounds.
Pilot Wang Lo-chi and copilot Chuang Meng-jung attempted to correct the situation by manually reducing the throttles and pushing the yoke
downwards. The autopilot then acted against these inputs (as it is programmed to do when the TO/GA button is activated), causing the plane to have a very nose-high attitude. This nose-high attitude, combined with decreasing airspeed due to insufficient thrust, resulted in an aerodynamic stall
of the aircraft. With insufficient altitude to recover from this condition, the subsequent crash killed 264 (15 crew and 249 passengers) of the 271 (15 crew and 256 passengers) people aboard. All passengers who survived the incident were seated at the starboard side of the aircraft in coach class.
The crash which destroyed the aircraft (delivered less than 3 years earlier in 1991) was attributed to crew error for their failure to correct the controls as well as the airspeed. It is the second highest death toll of any incident involving an Airbus A300 anywhere in the world after Iran Air Flight 655
.
When it occurred it became the deadliest aviation accident since Nigeria Airways Flight 2120
in 1991, and it became the deadliest aviation accident in Japan since Japan Airlines Flight 123
.
bound for Nagoya Airport
. The en-route flight was uneventful and the descent started at 19:47, and the airplane passed the outer marker
at 20:12. Just 3 nautical miles (5.6 km) from the runway threshold at 1000 feet (304.8 m) AGL
, the airplane levelled off for about 15 seconds and continued descending until about 500 feet (152.4 m) where there were two bursts of thrust applied in quick succession and the airplane was nose up in a steep climb. Airspeed dropped quickly, the airplane stalled, the nose dropped. The captain tried to pull back on the control column but was unsuccessful and the airplane struck the ground at 20:15:45. 31-year old Noriyasu Shirai, a survivor, said that a flight attendant announced that the plane would crash after the aircraft stalled. Sylvanie Detonio, who had survived by 27 April, said that passengers received no warning prior to the crash.
By 27 April 1994 officials said there were ten survivors (including a 3-year old) and that a Filipino, two Taiwanese, and seven Japanese survived.
By 6 May seven remained alive, including three children. A doctor expressed surprise in response to the survival of two of the children.
Taipei
Taipei City is the capital of the Republic of China and the central city of the largest metropolitan area of Taiwan. Situated at the northern tip of the island, Taipei is located on the Tamsui River, and is about 25 km southwest of Keelung, its port on the Pacific Ocean...
, Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
to Nagoya, Japan. On 26 April 1994, the Airbus A300
Airbus A300
The Airbus A300 is a short- to medium-range widebody jet airliner. Launched in 1972 as the world's first twin-engined widebody, it was the first product of Airbus Industrie, a consortium of European aerospace companies, wholly owned today by EADS...
on the route was due to land at Nagoya Airport. The Airbus A300
Airbus A300
The Airbus A300 is a short- to medium-range widebody jet airliner. Launched in 1972 as the world's first twin-engined widebody, it was the first product of Airbus Industrie, a consortium of European aerospace companies, wholly owned today by EADS...
was completing a routine flight and approach, when, just before landing, the First Officer pressed the Takeoff/Go-around button (also known as a TO/GA) which raises the throttle position to the same as take offs and go-arounds.
Pilot Wang Lo-chi and copilot Chuang Meng-jung attempted to correct the situation by manually reducing the throttles and pushing the yoke
Yoke (aircraft)
A yoke, alternatively known as control column, is a device used for piloting in most fixed-wing aircraft.- Principle :The aviator uses the yoke to control the attitude of the plane, usually in both pitch and roll. Rotating the control wheel controls the ailerons and the roll axis...
downwards. The autopilot then acted against these inputs (as it is programmed to do when the TO/GA button is activated), causing the plane to have a very nose-high attitude. This nose-high attitude, combined with decreasing airspeed due to insufficient thrust, resulted in an aerodynamic stall
Stall (flight)
In fluid dynamics, a stall is a reduction in the lift coefficient generated by a foil as angle of attack increases. This occurs when the critical angle of attack of the foil is exceeded...
of the aircraft. With insufficient altitude to recover from this condition, the subsequent crash killed 264 (15 crew and 249 passengers) of the 271 (15 crew and 256 passengers) people aboard. All passengers who survived the incident were seated at the starboard side of the aircraft in coach class.
The crash which destroyed the aircraft (delivered less than 3 years earlier in 1991) was attributed to crew error for their failure to correct the controls as well as the airspeed. It is the second highest death toll of any incident involving an Airbus A300 anywhere in the world after Iran Air Flight 655
Iran Air Flight 655
Iran Air Flight 655 was a civilian jet airliner shot down by U.S. missiles on 3 July 1988, over the Strait of Hormuz, toward the end of the Iran–Iraq War...
.
When it occurred it became the deadliest aviation accident since Nigeria Airways Flight 2120
Nigeria Airways Flight 2120
Nigeria Airways Flight 2120 refers to a Douglas DC-8-61, registration C-GMXQ, owned by the Canadian company Nolisair and wet-leased to Nigeria Airways, which in turn sub-leased the aircraft to another company to transport Nigerian pilgrims to and from Mecca, that crashed at King Abdulaziz...
in 1991, and it became the deadliest aviation accident in Japan since Japan Airlines Flight 123
Japan Airlines Flight 123
Japan Airlines Flight 123 was a Japan Airlines domestic flight from Tokyo International Airport to Osaka International Airport on August 12, 1985. The Boeing 747-146SR that made this route, registered , suffered mechanical failures 12 minutes into the flight and 32 minutes later crashed into two...
.
Passengers
Most of the passengers were Taiwanese and Japanese; 153 Japanese and 101 non-Japanese were on the flight. Two infants were on the flight. Most of the Japanese passengers were returning from package tours. An official from the airline said that 63 of the passengers were Taiwanese.Chronology of the flight
The flight took off from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport at 17:53 Japan Standard TimeJapan Standard Time
Japan Standard Time or JST is the standard timezone of Japan, and is 9 hours ahead of UTC. For example, when it is midnight in UTC, it is 09:00 in Japan Standard Time. There is no daylight saving time, though its introduction has been debated several times. Japan Standard Time is the same as...
bound for Nagoya Airport
Nagoya Airport
-History:Nagoya Airport served as the main airport for Nagoya until the opening of Chubu Centrair International Airport on February 17, 2005. This airport IATA Airport Code used to be NGO , and its ICAO Airport Code used to be RJNN when it was classified as a second class airport; the new...
. The en-route flight was uneventful and the descent started at 19:47, and the airplane passed the outer marker
Marker beacon
A marker beacon is a particular type of VHF radio beacon used in aviation, usually in conjunction with an instrument landing system , to give pilots a means to determine position along an established route to a destination such as a runway...
at 20:12. Just 3 nautical miles (5.6 km) from the runway threshold at 1000 feet (304.8 m) AGL
Above ground level
In aviation and atmospheric sciences, an altitude is said to be above ground level when it is measured with respect to the underlying ground surface. This is as opposed to above mean sea level , or in broadcast engineering, height above average terrain...
, the airplane levelled off for about 15 seconds and continued descending until about 500 feet (152.4 m) where there were two bursts of thrust applied in quick succession and the airplane was nose up in a steep climb. Airspeed dropped quickly, the airplane stalled, the nose dropped. The captain tried to pull back on the control column but was unsuccessful and the airplane struck the ground at 20:15:45. 31-year old Noriyasu Shirai, a survivor, said that a flight attendant announced that the plane would crash after the aircraft stalled. Sylvanie Detonio, who had survived by 27 April, said that passengers received no warning prior to the crash.
By 27 April 1994 officials said there were ten survivors (including a 3-year old) and that a Filipino, two Taiwanese, and seven Japanese survived.
By 6 May seven remained alive, including three children. A doctor expressed surprise in response to the survival of two of the children.
Court proceedings
- Japanese prosecutors declined to pursue charges of professional negligence on the airline's senior management as it was "difficult to call into question the criminal responsibility of the four individuals because aptitude levels achieved through training at the carrier were similar to those at other airlines." The pilots could not be prosecuted since they died in the accident.
- A class actionClass actionIn law, a class action, a class suit, or a representative action is a form of lawsuit in which a large group of people collectively bring a claim to court and/or in which a class of defendants is being sued...
suit was filed against China Airlines and Airbus Industrie for compensation. In December 2003, the Nagoya District Court ordered China Airlines to pay a combined 5 billion yen to 232 people, but cleared Airbus of liability. Some of the bereaved and survivors felt that the compensation was inadequate and a further class action suit was filed and ultimately settled in April 2007 when the airline apologised for the accident and provided additional compensation.
Aftermath
- On 3 May 1994, the Civil Aeronautics AdministrationCivil Aeronautics Administration (Republic of China)The Civil Aeronautics Administration, Ministry of Transportation and Communication is a government agency of the Republic of China . It is a division of the Ministry of Transportation and Communication under the Executive Yuan and responsible for the regulation of all civil aviation activities in...
(CAA) of the Republic of ChinaRepublic of ChinaThe Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan , is a unitary sovereign state located in East Asia. Originally based in mainland China, the Republic of China currently governs the island of Taiwan , which forms over 99% of its current territory, as well as Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other minor...
(Taiwan) ordered China AirlinesChina AirlinesChina Airlines is both the flag carrier and the largest airline of Republic of China . Although not directly state-owned, the airline is owned by China Airlines Group, which is owned by the China Aviation Development Foundation...
to modify the flight control computers following Airbus's notice of the modification. - On 7 May 1994, the CAA ordered China Airlines to provide supplementary training and a re-evaluation of proficiency to all A300-600R pilots.
- The flight numbers CI140/141 have been retired after the accident and have been replaced with CI150/151.
External links
Aircraft Accident Investigation Report – Aircraft Accident Investigation Commission (Archive)-
- Text version of English main report - Prepared for the World Wide WebWorld Wide WebThe World Wide Web is a system of interlinked hypertext documents accessed via the Internet...
by , a member of the Safety Promotion Committee (総合安全推進) of All Nippon AirwaysAll Nippon Airways, also known as or ANA, is one of the largest airlines in Japan. It is headquartered at the Shiodome City Center in the Shiodome area in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. It operates services to 49 destinations in Japan and 35 international routes and employed over 14,000 employees as of May 2009...
; and by Prof. Peter B. Ladkin, Ph.D. of the University of Bielefeld - English appendices text version - Prepared for the World Wide Web by Marco Gröning Aircraft Accident Investigation Report – Aircraft Accident Investigation Commission (Original version, version of record)
- Text version of English main report - Prepared for the World Wide Web
- 2ND LD: Taiwan's China Airlines ordered to pay 5 bil. yen over crash.
- Cockpit voice recorder transcript from the flight
- "Kin settle over 1994 China Air Nagoya crash." Kyodo at the Japan Times. Friday April 20, 2007.
- China Airlines Airbus A300-600R (Flight 140) Misses Landing and Goes Up in Flame at Nagoya Airport
- "Kin allowed to view CAL crash victims' photos." The Japan TimesThe Japan TimesThe Japan Times is an English language newspaper published in Japan. Unlike its competitors, the Daily Yomiuri and the International Herald Tribune/Asahi Shimbun, it is not affiliated with a Japanese language media organization...
. Wednesday, January 7, 2004. - "Japanese find flight recorder in plane crash." The New York TimesThe New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
at the Houston ChronicleHouston ChronicleThe Houston Chronicle is the largest daily newspaper in Texas, USA, headquartered in the Houston Chronicle Building in Downtown Houston. , it is the ninth-largest newspaper by circulation in the United States...
. Thursday April 28, 1994. A14. - "Brothers recovering (World briefs) Houston ChronicleHouston ChronicleThe Houston Chronicle is the largest daily newspaper in Texas, USA, headquartered in the Houston Chronicle Building in Downtown Houston. , it is the ninth-largest newspaper by circulation in the United States...
. Saturday May 7, 1994. A26.