China Airlines Flight 204

China Airlines Flight 204

B-180, the aircraft involved in the accident, on its delivery flight in 1986
Accident
Date	26 October 1989
Summary	Takeoff from wrong runway, wrong turn after airborne due to pilot error
Site	Chiashan mountain range near Hualien Airport, Taiwan
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Boeing 737-209
Operator	China Airlines
IATA flight No.	CI204
ICAO flight No.	CAL204
Call sign	DYNASTY 204
Registration	B-180
Flight origin	Hualien Airport
Destination	Taoyuan International Airport
Passengers	47
Crew	7
Fatalities	54
Injuries	0
Survivors	0

China Airlines Flight 204 was a Boeing 737-200 that crashed into a mountain after takeoff from Hualien Airport, Taiwan on 26 October 1989. The crash killed all 54 passengers and crew on board the aircraft.

Aircraft

The aircraft was a Boeing 737-209, registration B-180, which first flew on 3 December 1986 and was delivered to the airline two weeks later.

Accident

Flight 204 departed Hualien Airport on a short-haul domestic flight to Chiang Kai-shek International Airport (now Taoyuan International Airport) on the island of Taiwan with 47 passengers and seven crewmembers aboard. Ten minutes after takeoff, the plane collided with a mountain in the Chiashan range at an altitude of approximately 2,100 metres (6,900 ft), 5.5 km (3.4 mi) north of the airport. All 54 passengers and crewmembers were killed.

Cause

The major cause of the crash was determined to be pilot error, as the experienced pilot (15 years with China Airlines) and a novice copilot departed from the wrong runway, a mistake compounded by ground-control personnel who failed to spot the error. The aircraft then flew the climb-out procedure for the correct runway, and as a result, the aircraft made a left turn toward the mountains rather than a right turn toward the sea.

See also

• Singapore Airlines Flight 006
• Comair Flight 5191
• Western Airlines Flight 2605