Date: February 16th, 1998
Type: Airbus A.300-622R
Registration: B-1814
Operator: China Airlines
Where: Taibei (Taiwan)
Report No.: Not Available
Report Date: -
Pages: -

This is not an accident investigation report.

February 16, 1998 - TAIPEI, Taiwan

- A China Airlines A-300 jetliner returning from Bali with 197 people on board crashed, skidded into a residential area and burst into flames today just short of a runway at Taipei's airport.



The deputy director-general of Taiwan's Civil Aeronautics Administration, Chang Kuo-cheng, said the plane carried 182 passengers and 15 crew, and that no survivors had been found so far. A 2-month-old infant and 28-year-old woman on the ground were killed when the plane slammed into houses and cars, state television reported.



Among the passengers were Sheu Yuan-dong, governor of Taiwan's Central Bank, his wife, and other finance officials returning from a conference on the Indonesian island of Bali.

The other officials were listed as Chen Huang, head of the bank's Department of Foreign Exchange, and Chien Chi-min, head of the Department of Economic Research. Most of the passengers were believed to be Taiwanese, but a passenger list issued by the airline showed five foreign names. The nationality of those passengers was not immediately known.

The plane - landing in a light rain - hit the ground several hundred yards short of the runway at Chiang Kai-shek airport, 24 miles west of the capital. TV footage showed firefighters trying to put out flames in windows and doors of a building, and piles of wreckage. The plane crashed while attempting to land on a second approach at about 8 p.m. (7 a.m. EST) at the airport's northern runway, China Airlines reported. Heavy fog was reported around the airport throughout the afternoon and evening. A light rain was falling at the time of the crash, but visibility was reported to be adequate.


Additional Report

TAIPEI, Taiwan - A China Airlines Airbus A-300 jetliner returning from the holiday resort of Bali crashed short of Taipei's airport today in a night fog, clipping houses and cars before bursting into flames.

An official on the scene said all 196 passengers and crew on the plane were dead. In addition, the official Central News Agency said nine people, including a 2-month-old baby, were killed on the ground. Eyewitnesses said the plane hit the ground in a semirural area several hundred yards short of the runway at Chiang Kai-shek airport, which is located about 24 miles west of Taipei. It ripped off the tops of several two-story houses along a road, slammed into a rice paddy and erupted in flames. ``It came down ... I heard a loud explosion and a fireball, and then I thought the chances for any survivors were slim,'' said a nut vendor who identified himself only as Mr. Yang. It was unclear whether the plane hit the ground before clipping the houses, or whether it hit them just before it crashed and exploded. Yang said firefighters arrived quickly and put out the fire in 15 minutes. Police sealed off the area.

Shih Mau-ling, the district's chief prosecutor, said at the crash site that there were no survivors among the 182 passengers and 14 crew. Airline officials said four Americans were on board, but there was no immediate confirmation of that. Airport officials said two flight data recorders were recovered from the site and were being analyzed to help determine the cause of the crash. Bodies were found in pieces, many charred beyond recognition. TV footage showed firefighters trying to put out flames in windows and doors of a building, and piles of wreckage. Hours after the crash - with the smell of jet fuel and burning rubber still strong - firemen and rescuers made a final search through the wreckage. Searchlights illuminated a life raft wrapped around a tree stump and parts of fuselage, yellow insulation, seats and clumps of rubber were spread amid clods of dirt.

The twin-engine Airbus crashed while attempting to land on a second approach at about 8 p.m. (7 a.m. EST) at the airport's northern runway, China Airlines reported. Among the passengers on flight CI-676 were Sheu Yuan-dong, governor of Taiwan's Central Bank, his wife, and four other finance officials returning from a conference in Bali. They included Chen Huang, head of the bank's Department of Foreign Exchange, and Chien Chi-min, head of the Department of Economic Research. Most of the passengers were Taiwanese families who had been on holiday on the Indonesian island of Bali. Heavy fog was reported around the airport throughout the afternoon and evening, and a light rain was falling at the time of the crash.

The plane had been asked to make a second approach due to poor visibility, said Hamilton Liu, a China Airlines spokesman. Earlier, the Civil Aeronautics Administration had said the visibility was reported to be adequate.

The plane appeared to have narrowly missed the runway at Chiang Kai-shek airport, 25 miles west of Taipei. It tore through the second floors of homes strung along a highway before sliding to a stop in flames. Details of the crash still were sketchy early Tuesday, but in the light of day it appeared the plane may have come down on a road, about 200 feet away, and parallel to the runway.

A resident near the airport told a radio station that he rushed out of his home after hearing a loud roar and saw the jetliner apparently readying to land

``as if the pilot mistook the spacious highway for the runway.''

The man, who did not give his name, said the plane was not able to pull up in time. The fiery impact scattered charred bodies and body parts along the road and throughout the sparsely populated area, home to fish farms, small factories and warehouses. The smell of jet fuel and burning rubber lingered hours after the crash. Only the tail of the broken, burned jet was recognizable. ``I heard a blast, and was scared to death. Parts of the house started to fall down,'' said Chen Ah-mei, who had to crawl out of the ruins of her home on her hands and knees. She and her husband were being treated at a hospital. ``It happened so fast - noise and fire,'' said an elderly farmer who ran to the scene as soon as he saw the flames. He identified himself only as Chen. Authorities sealed off the neighborhood. Relatives rushed to hospitals and the airport, breaking into tears and falling into one another's arms as the extent of the disaster hit them; one woman collapsed to the floor. ``They all went to Bali on a trip - and they are all dead,'' said a woman whose four children were on the flight. Tsai Tuei, director of the Civil Aeronautics Administration, resigned to take moral responsibility for the crash, which was the worst in the airport's history.

Airport officials said two flight data recorders were recovered and were being analyzed to help determine the cause of the accident. The twin-engine Airbus went down as it attempted to land on a second approach at 8:09 p.m. local time at the airport's northern runway, Taipei-based China Airlines said. Heavy fog was reported around the airport throughout the afternoon and evening, and a light rain was falling at the time of the crash.

The smell of jet fuel and burning rubber filled the air hours after the crash in an area that is home to a mixture of fish farms, rice paddies, small factories and warehouses. Firefighters went house to house in the blackened neighborhood, extinguishing flames licking at doors and windows and searching for survivors. A 10-year-old boy who was taken alive from the wreckage died a short time later at a hospital. 'Parts of the house started to fall down'

"I heard a blast, and was scared to death. Parts of the house started to fall down," said Chen Ah-mei, who had to crawl out of the ruins of her home on her hands and knees. She and her husband were being treated at a hospital. "It happened so fast -- noise and fire," said an elderly farmer who ran to the scene as soon as he saw the flames. He identified himself only as Chen. Heavy fog was reported around the airport throughout the afternoon and evening, and a light rain was falling at the time of the crash. Airline officials said the plane had problems with its approach to the airport. "Visibility was extremely bad," airline spokesman Liu Kuo-chien said. "The pilot said he was having trouble seeing the runway as he made his approach and asked to come around for another try. "Immediately after he asked for another try, the pilot lost contact with the tower," Liu said.