Mandarin Airlines Flight 642
Encyclopedia
China Airlines
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 642
was a flight that crashed at Hong Kong International Airport
Hong Kong International Airport
Hong Kong International Airport is the main airport in Hong Kong. It is colloquially known as Chek Lap Kok Airport , being built on the island of Chek Lap Kok by land reclamation, and also to distinguish it from its predecessor, the closed Kai Tak Airport.The airport opened for commercial...

 on 22 August 1999. It was operating from Bangkok
Bangkok
Bangkok is the capital and largest urban area city in Thailand. It is known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon or simply Krung Thep , meaning "city of angels." The full name of Bangkok is Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom...

 (Bangkok International Airport, now renamed Don Mueang International Airport) to 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...

 with a stopover in Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...

.

The plane, an MD-11, was in subsidiary Mandarin Airlines
Mandarin Airlines
Mandarin Airlines, Limited is an airline based in Songshan District, Taipei, Taiwan. The Republic of China-based airline is China Airlines' regional and domestic subsidiary. It also operates charter services...

 colours. While landing during a typhoon, it touched down hard, flipped over and caught fire. Of the people on board 312 survived and three were killed.

The flight continues to operate today with the flight no longer originating in Bangkok and is strictly a Hong Kong-Taipei route.

Summary

At about 6:43 P.M. on 22 August 1999, , a McDonnell Douglas MD-11
McDonnell Douglas MD-11
The McDonnell Douglas MD-11 is a three-engine medium- to long-range widebody jet airliner, manufactured by McDonnell Douglas and, later, by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Based on the DC-10, it features a stretched fuselage, increased wingspan with winglets, refined airfoils on the wing and smaller...

, was making its final approach
Final approach (aviation)
A final approach is the last leg in an aircraft's approach to landing. In aviation radio terminology, it is often shortened to "final".In a standard airport landing pattern, which is usually used under visual meteorological conditions , aircraft turn from base leg to final within one to two miles...

 to runway
Runway
According to ICAO a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and take-off of aircraft." Runways may be a man-made surface or a natural surface .- Orientation and dimensions :Runways are named by a number between 01 and 36, which is generally one tenth...

 25L when Typhoon Sam was 50 km NE of the airport. At an altitude of 700 feet prior to touchdown a further wind check was passed to the crew: 320 deg/28 knots gusting to 36 knots, while maximum crosswind component limit for the aircraft was 24 knots. The crew neglected this and continued the landing. During the final flare to land, the plane rolled to the right, landed hard on its right main gear and the No. 3 engine touched the runway. The right wing separated from the fuselage. The aircraft continued to roll over and skidded off the runway in flames. When it stopped, it was on its back and the rear of the plane was on fire, coming to rest on a grass area next to the runway, 1100 m from the runway threshold. The right wing was found on a taxiway 90 meters from the nose of the plane. As shown in photos of the aircraft at rest, the fire caused significant damage to the rear section of the aircraft but was quickly extinguished due to the heavy rain and quick response from rescue teams in the airport.

Of the 300 passengers 3 died; all 15 crew members survived.

Investigation

The final report of the accident blamed it mainly on pilot error; specifically the inability to arrest the high rate of descent existing at 50 ft altitude on the radar altimeter
Radar altimeter
A radar altimeter, radio altimeter, low range radio altimeter or simply RA measures altitude above the terrain presently beneath an aircraft or spacecraft...

. The descent rate at touch down was 18–20 ft/s.
The flight data stored in the volatile memory
Volatile memory
Volatile memory, also known as volatile storage, is computer memory that requires power to maintain the stored information, unlike non-volatile memory which does not require a maintained power supply...

 of the aircraft's Quick Access Recorder
Quick access recorder
A quick access recorder is an airborne flight data recorder designed to provide quick and easy access to raw flight data, through means such as USB or cellular network connections and/or the use of standard flash memory cards...

 (QAR) during the last 500 ft of the approach could not be recovered due to the interruption of the power supply at impact. Probable wind variations and the loss of headwind component, together with the early retardation of thrust levers, led to a 20 kt loss in indicated airspeed
Indicated airspeed
Indicated airspeed is the airspeed read directly from the airspeed indicator on an aircraft, driven by the pitot-static system. IAS is directly related to calibrated airspeed , which is the IAS corrected for instrument and installation errors....

 just prior to touchdown.

Due to the severe weather conditions forecast for Hong Kong, the flight crew had prepared to divert the flight to Taipei if the situation at Hong Kong was deemed unsuitable for landing. Extra fuel was carried for this possibility, resulting in a landing weight of 429557 lb, which is just 443 lb below its maximum landing weight. Based on the initial weather and wind check which was passed to the crew from Hong Kong during the flight, they believed they could land there and decided against a diversion to Taipei. However four earlier flights had carried out missed approaches at Hong Kong and five had diverted.

During the final approach, the plane descended along the ILS
Instrument Landing System
An instrument landing system is a ground-based instrument approach system that provides precision guidance to an aircraft approaching and landing on a runway, using a combination of radio signals and, in many cases, high-intensity lighting arrays to enable a safe landing during instrument...

 glideslope until at about 700 ft, the crew visually acquired the runway. They disengaged the autopilot
Autopilot
An autopilot is a mechanical, electrical, or hydraulic system used to guide a vehicle without assistance from a human being. An autopilot can refer specifically to aircraft, self-steering gear for boats, or auto guidance of space craft and missiles...

 but left the autothrottle on. During the flare, the rate of descent was not arrested, the plane landed with the right wing slightly lower. The right landing gear touched down first, the right engine impacted the runway and the right wing was detached from the fuselage
Fuselage
The fuselage is an aircraft's main body section that holds crew and passengers or cargo. In single-engine aircraft it will usually contain an engine, although in some amphibious aircraft the single engine is mounted on a pylon attached to the fuselage which in turn is used as a floating hull...

. Since the left wing was still attached, the lift from that wing rolled the fuselage onto its right side, and the plane came to rest inverted in the grass strip next to the runway. The spilled fuel caught fire.

Several suggestions were given to China Airlines concerning its training.

Media

A group of people in a car filmed the crash of China Airlines Flight 642; several websites display the video and the audible commentary by the occupants of the car. The video was posted on YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....

 and Airdisaster.com
Airdisaster.com
AirDisaster.com is a website devoted to accidents and incidents on commercial airliners. It includes voice recordings, accident videos, reports and articles about a number of airliner crashes. It also includes crash statistics by company, plane model and year...

.

Snopes reported about a chain e-mail that shows a picture of an upside-down and crashed 642 next to an intact Mandarin airliner http://www.snopes.com/photos/airplane/mandarin.asp.

External links

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