China Airlines Flight 358
Encyclopedia
China Airlines
Flight 358 was a Boeing
747-2R7F
freighter plane that crashed on December 29, 1991 shortly after takeoff from Chiang Kai-shek International Airport in Taipei
, Taiwan
. The aircraft was a 747, registration B-198, that had been in service for 11 years, 3 months . 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.
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 right-hand turn instead. This was the last radio contact made by the crew. The crew lost control of the airplane 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. All five crewmembers died in the crash, and there were no injuries on the ground.
The subsequent investigation revealed that the #3 engine and its pylon
had separated from the airplane and struck the #4 engine, breaking it off the wing as well. 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. The search for the #3 engine and its pylon, which landed in the sea, took several months. Subsequently, Boeing recalled every 747 in use for pylon modifications.
China Airlines
China 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...
Flight 358 was a Boeing
Boeing
The Boeing Company is an American multinational aerospace and defense corporation, founded in 1916 by William E. Boeing in Seattle, Washington. Boeing has expanded over the years, merging with McDonnell Douglas in 1997. Boeing Corporate headquarters has been in Chicago, Illinois since 2001...
747-2R7F
Boeing 747
The Boeing 747 is a wide-body commercial airliner and cargo transport, often referred to by its original nickname, Jumbo Jet, or Queen of the Skies. It is among the world's most recognizable aircraft, and was the first wide-body ever produced...
freighter plane that crashed on December 29, 1991 shortly after takeoff from Chiang Kai-shek International Airport in Taipei
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...
. The aircraft was a 747, registration B-198, that had been in service for 11 years, 3 months . 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.
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 right-hand turn instead. This was the last radio contact made by the crew. The crew lost control of the airplane 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. All five crewmembers died in the crash, and there were no injuries on the ground.
The subsequent investigation revealed that the #3 engine and its pylon
Hardpoint
A hardpoint, or weapon station, is any part of an airframe designed to carry an external load. This includes a point on the wing or fuselage of military aircraft where external ordnance, countermeasures, gun pods, targeting pods or drop tanks can be mounted.-Rail launchers:Large missiles and...
had separated from the airplane and struck the #4 engine, breaking it off the wing as well. 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. The search for the #3 engine and its pylon, which landed in the sea, took several months. Subsequently, Boeing recalled every 747 in use for pylon modifications.
See also
- Air safety
- American Airlines Flight 191American Airlines Flight 191American Airlines Flight 191 was a regularly scheduled passenger flight in the United States from O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, Illinois, to Los Angeles International Airport. On May 25, 1979, the McDonnell Douglas DC-10-10 operating the route crashed moments after takeoff from Chicago....
- May 25, 1979 - Also suffered a pylon failure. - El Al Flight 1862El Al Flight 1862On 4 October 1992, El Al Flight 1862, a Boeing 747 cargo plane of the Israeli airline El Al, crashed into the Groeneveen and Klein-Kruitberg flats in the Bijlmermeer neighbourhood of Amsterdam, the Netherlands. For the location in the Bijlmermeer, the crash is known in Dutch as the "Bijlmerramp"...
- October 4, 1992 - Also suffered a pylon failure of almost exactly the same nature; engine number 3 broke off and hit number 4, breaking it off as well.