China Airlines Flight 642

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China Airlines Flight 642

Mandarin Airlines MD-11 (B-151)
Accident summary
Date	22 August 1999
Type	Foul weather and Pilot error, crash on approach
Site	Hong Kong International Airport
Passengers	300
Crew	15
Injuries	208; 44 serious, 164 minor
Fatalities	3
Survivors	312
Aircraft type	McDonnell Douglas MD-11
Operator	China Airlines
Tail number	B-150
Flight origin	Don Mueang International Airport
Stopover	Hong Kong International Airport
Destination	Chiang Kai-shek International Airport

China Airlines Flight 642 was a flight that crashed at Hong Kong International Airport on 22 August 1999. It was a flight from Old Bangkok International Airport (now Don Mueang International Airport) in Bangkok to Taipei with a stopover in Hong Kong.^[1]

The plane, which was landing during a typhoon, touched down hard, flipped over and caught fire. Of the people on board Flight 642: 312 survived; three were killed.

Contents 1 Summary 2 Investigation 3 Media 4 References 5 External links

[edit] Summary

At about 6:43 P.M. on 22 August 1999, B-150, a McDonnell Douglas MD-11, was making its final approach to runway 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 banked on its right, landed hard on its right main gear and the no. 3 engine touched the runway. The right main gear and the right wing separated. The plane rolled upside down 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.^[2] 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.

[edit] Investigation

The final report of the accident blamed it mainly on pilot error; the commander’s inability to arrest the high rate of descent existing at 50 ft altitude on the radar altimeter. The descent rate at touch down was 18-20 ft/s. QAR information at the last 500 ft of the approach could not be recovered due to the interruption of the power supply at impact and it was stored in volatile buffer. 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 just prior to touchdown.^[3]

Due to a severe weather situation in Hong Kong, the flight crew had prepared to divert the flight directly to Taipei if the situation at Hong Kong was deemed unsuitable for landing. Sufficient fuel was carried, resulting in a landing weight of 429557 lb, which is just 443 lb below its maximum landing weight. Approaching Hong Kong and after initial weather and wind check being passed from the airport, the crew believed that it could land there and thus decided against a diversion. Before the arrival of flight 642, four flights carried out missed approaches, five diverted and twelve landed successfully.

During the final approach, the plane descended along the ILS glideslope until at about 700 ft, when the crew gained visual with the runway, the crew disengaged the autopilot 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. Since the left wing was still attached to the plane, it rolled onto its right side, and the plane came to rest inverted in the grass strip next to the runway. The spilled fuel caught fire. ^[3]

Several suggestions were given to China Airlines concerning its training.^[3]

[edit] 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 and Airdisaster.com.

Snopes reported about a chain e-mail that shows a picture of an upside-down and crashed 642 next to an intact Mandarin airliner [1].

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• 2 die, more than 200 hurt in Hong Kong jet crash, CNN
• Sunday's Hong Kong crash fourth accident in past decade, CNN
• Airdisaster.com video of Mandarin Airlines Flight 642
• The Video of the incident in YouTube (text accompanying is in English)
• The Video of the incident in YouTube (text accompanying is in Spanish)
• Photos of Mandarin Airlines Flight 642
• Aircraft Accident Report 1/2004 on China Airlines Flight CI642 (Civil Aviation Department, Hong Kong)
• A Difficult Cabin Announcement - Snopes

v • d • e ← 1998 Aviation accidents and incidents in 1999 2000→ MetroJet Flight 2710 (February 23) — China Southwest Airlines Flight 4509 (February 24) — Turkish Airlines Flight 5904 (April 7) — American Airlines Flight 1420 (June 1) — All Nippon Airways Flight 61 (July 23) — Atlantique Incident (August 10) — China Airlines Flight 642 (August 22) — LAPA Flight 3142 (August 31) — Britannia Airways Flight 226A (September 14) — Qantas Flight 1 (September 23) — 1999 Air Botswana incident (October 11) — South Dakota Learjet crash (October 25) — EgyptAir Flight 990 (October 31) — Asian Spirit Flight 100 (December 7) — Korean Air Cargo Flight 8509 (December 22) — Indian Airlines Flight 814 (December 24) Bold indicates incidents resulting at least 50 deaths (current article is always in bold) Orange color indicates the deadliest incident in 1999