Desmond C 0 Report post Posted August 20, 2007 more holes on d ozone layer Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Pieter C. 5 Report post Posted August 20, 2007 China Air 737 Explodes In Japan August 20, 2007 Passengers slid down emergency chutes with moments to spare before their Taiwanese airliner exploded and caught fire on Monday, a few minutes after the jet landed on Japan's southern resort island of Okinawa. The left engine of a Boeing 737-800 jet belonging to Taiwan-based China Airlines exploded shortly after arrival in Naha city from Taipei, ripping the plane apart, officials and witnesses said, but all 165 passengers and crew escaped safely. "I saw several passengers evacuate from the plane using a chute. After a minute or so, I heard the sound of an explosion. It was a big explosion," said Tadahiro Hasuo, who told NHK he felt the heat of the blast while passing Naha airport in a taxi. Video shot by a witness and broadcast on TV showed passengers sliding down two chutes on the right side of the plane, while flames and thick black smoke billowed from the left. After the flames were extinguished, the charred remains of the plane lay broken on the tarmac near the terminal. The nose of the plane sagged on its side, while the tail -- emblazoned with the airline's pink plum blossom symbol -- was intact at the other end. In between, the blackened remains of the interior could be seen, with much of the roof of the plane gone. Early investigations in Naha, the capital of Okinawa, raised the possibility that leaking fuel may have caught fire. "We don't have any information that suggests the accident was linked to terrorism. There is a possibility of the engine exploding and catching fire due to a fuel leak," a Naha airport police official said. One member of the ground crew had been injured, Kyodo news agency reported. The airline said the plane, which had 157 passengers and eight crew, had just undergone scheduled maintenance. "Everything was working according to normal procedure. There was nothing wrong during the flight," China Airlines spokesman Johnson Sun told reporters. China Airlines has a troubled safety record with four deadly accidents in the past 13 years, including a crash in the Japanese city of Nagoya in 1994 in which 264 people were killed. Okinawa is a popular spot for beach holidays and the number of visitors to Japan from other parts of Asia has increased in recent years, with the lifting of visa restrictions. Taiwan's civil aeronautics administration said it would send three people, along with China Airlines officials, to Okinawa to investigate the cause of the accident. The aircraft's engines were made by CFM International, a joint venture between General Electric and Snecma, a Japanese Transport Ministry official said. But he said it was not clear whether the engine was to blame for the accident. (Reuters) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rozhan 0 Report post Posted August 20, 2007 From the newsclip in TV3, it appears the Fire & Rescue Services were not around 'yet' when the plane exploded and fires raging. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Low Joon Jet 0 Report post Posted August 20, 2007 This is how the pilot escape... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Desmond C 0 Report post Posted August 20, 2007 where's the passengers? any pix of how the passengers get out of the plane? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Pieter C. 5 Report post Posted August 20, 2007 where's the passengers? any pix of how the passengers get out of the plane? Saw on the news, most passengers escaped from the right-hand rear-door via slides...all are safe Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Min Chun 0 Report post Posted August 20, 2007 (edited) 33 photos to view here http://news.yahoo.com/photos/ss/events/wl/...hDG9swMXkWaK8MA Video provided in this site By DEBBY WU, Associated Press Writer NAHA, Japan - Taiwan grounded its fleet of Boeing 737-800 jetliners after a China Airlines plane exploded in a fireball Monday on the tarmac in Okinawa, and officials said a fuel leak may be to blame. All 165 passengers and crew scrambled down emergency chutes or jumped from cockpit windows — some just seconds before the blast. Passengers described a normal landing after Flight CI-120 landed on the resort island of Okinawa from the Taiwanese capital of Taipei. But as the jet came to a stop near the terminal, they said that the left engine began smoking, followed by the right one. Okinawa Airport traffic controllers had received no report from the pilot indicating anything was wrong as the plane came in to land and even as it stopped near the terminal to unload passengers, said Japanese Transport Ministry official Akihiko Tamura.When the smoke started billowing outside the plane, the cabin crew already was standing by the doors, said a passenger who gave his surname as Tsang and identified himself as a guide for Taipei's Southeast Tours. "The passengers saw the smoke first and they began to yell and demand that the doors be opened," he said.Tamura said the fire started "when the left engine exploded a minute after the aircraft entered the parking spot."Inside the plane, passengers recalled a scene of panic."When the smoke started, people were just pushing and shoving each other," said an unidentified female Taiwanese passenger. "It was total chaos."The main explosion, which engulfed the center of the aircraft in flames, occurred after the passengers slid down the emergency chutes at the front and rear of the plane.Screams erupted as passengers raced across the tarmac to get away from the burning plane, and emergency personnel moved in to fight the fire.A figure believed to be the pilot hung onto the cockpit window for several seconds before dropping to the tarmac and sprinting away from the exploding plane.There were no serious injuries among the 157 passengers, including two infants, and crew of eight, the Taiwan-based China Airlines said. A Taiwanese woman said she was stricken with fear as she slid down the chute."I was running and crying, running and crying" said the woman, who declined to give her name.Another passenger who gave only his surname, Chen, said he started running the moment he slid off the plane. "I ran so hard my sock tore," he said. "I think I got my life back."Tsang said the evacuation took no more than 90 seconds. "About 30 seconds after I slid down the chute and began to run toward the terminal, I heard two big explosions," he said. "I had no idea it would be this serious."Video from Japanese broadcaster NHK showed a lone firefighter trying to douse the fire immediately after the explosion. But the plane was quickly rocked by two more explosions, which brought the fuselage crashing to the tarmac. China Airlines spokesman Sun Hung-wen said "the plane landed safely so we are still checking why there was a fire." A statement on the airline's Web site said the plane "caught fire during taxi operations at Okinawa Airport." Capt. Yu Chien-kuo, 48, has been flying 737-800s for the airline for six years, the statement said. Initial reports from ground personnel said a fuel leak from the right engine could have led to the explosions, according to another Japanese Transport Ministry official, Fumio Yasukawa. China Airlines has a troubled safety record. One of its 747s crashed in 2002 as it flew from Taipei to Hong Kong, leading to 225 deaths. Accidents involving the airline killed about 450 people in the 1990s. "We are prepared to do our best to get to the bottom of this incident," China Airlines president Zhao Guo-shi told reporters at the airport. "I apologize for the trouble we have caused our passengers." The fire was extinguished after about an hour, leaving the aircraft sagging on its side, charred in the middle, with part of its roof burned away. Taiwan's Civil Aeronautics Administration head Chang Kuo-cheng said authorities ordered China Airlines and its subsidiary Mandarin Airlines to ground their 13 other Boeing 737-800s pending a thorough inspection. Japanese aviation authorities also ordered an emergency inspection of all Boeing 737-800 planes owned by Japanese carriers, as well as some 737-700 models that have similar engines. The plane had CFM 56 engines, made by CFM International, a joint venture between GE Aviation, a unit of General Electric Co., and France's Snecma, said Boeing spokesman Jim Proulx. All 737-800s are built with the same engine. The Japan Aircraft and Railway Accidents Investigation Commission requested technical assistance from Boeing, company spokesman Jim Proulx said. The Boeing investigator is expected in Japan by Wednesday. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board also sent in investigators. Two passengers — a 7-year-old girl and a man in his 50s — were hospitalized because they did not feel well, but they were uninjured, said fire official Hiroki Shimabukuro. A ground engineer who was knocked off his feet by the blast was not hurt, the Transport Ministry said. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070820/ap_on_...apan_plane_fire Edited August 20, 2007 by Min Chun Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Wilber Tan 0 Report post Posted August 21, 2007 A Chinese passenger jet burst into flames after making a routine landing in Japan today, destroying the jet on the runway just moments after all 165 people on board fled the aircraft. All 157 passengers - including two small children- fled the Boeing 737-800 unhurt on inflated emergency slides just minutes before the plane burst into a fireball, Transport Ministry official Akihiko Tamura told reporters. “The fire started when the left engine exploded a minute after the aircraft entered the parking spot,” Tamura said, adding that airport traffic controllers had received no report from the pilot indicating anything was wrong. Nobody was injured. Local fire official Hiroki Shimabukuro said two passengers - a 7-year-old girl and a man in his 50s - had been hospitalized because they felt unwell, but not because they were injured. “The fire started when the left engine exploded a minute after the aircraft entered the parking spot,” Mr Tamura told reporters, adding that the pilots did not make a distress call or give any sign they were expecting difficulties after landing. Hideaki Oyadomari, an airport worker, said: “After the plane landed, there were flames, and I heard explosions a few times, then saw black smoke. We felt the hot air coming our way.” Four officials from Japan’s Aircraft and Railway Accidents Investigation Commission were at the airport to investigate the incident. In Taiwan, aviation officials ordered China Airlines and its subsidiary, Mandarin Airlines, to ground their 13 other Boeing 737-800s pending safety inspections. “If there was a fire, it might have something to do with an oil leak,” said Chang Kuo-cheng, the head of Taiwan’s Civil Aeronautics Administration. China Airlines has suffered four deadly accidents in the past 13 years, including a crash in the Japanese city of Nagoya in 1994 in which 264 people were killed. Okinawa is a popular spot for beach holidays, and the number of visitors to Japan from other parts of Asia has increased in recent years. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Azuddin 1 Report post Posted August 21, 2007 that's the third NG 737 with winglet got written off. Azuddin Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Loh Wilson 0 Report post Posted August 21, 2007 there is another thread on this since yesterday Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tamizi Hj Tamby 1 Report post Posted August 21, 2007 Holy Smokes!!! I thought it was a small incident,but what a suprise!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Wilber Tan 0 Report post Posted August 21, 2007 Just minutes after touching down at Naha airport, on the Japanese island of Okinawa, Taiwan's China Airlines Boeing 737-800 burst into flames. All 165 passengers and crew on board managed to escape down inflated emergency chutes. TV footage showed the last crew members sliding down the chute as the plane burst into flames. Firefighters fought the flames for more than an hour before managing to extinguish them... leaving the charred and mangled wreckage of the plane on the tarmac. China Airlines says an investigation into the cause of the fire is under way. The incident is another setback for the airline, which suffered several accidents during the 1990s. The airline said the plane took off and landed normally. Some reports say the left engine caught fire after landing. more info about the incident Airline: China Airline Aircraft: Boeing 737-800series Flight No: 120 Registration No: B-18616 Safety Statement: All onboard safely evacuated. Only one ground staff sustained minor injuries. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- List of incident with China Airline in the pass few years: On 1994 April 26, Flight 140, an Airbus A300 of the airline crashed at Nagoya, Japan, and 264 people died. This accident happened during landing. On 1998 February 16, Flight 676, an Airbus A300, crashed during landing in Taipei, killing all 196 aboard and 9 on the ground, including the head of Taiwan Central Bank chief Hsu Yuan-Dong. On 1999 August 22, Flight 642, a McDonnell Douglas MD-11, crashed while landing at Hong Kong airport during a typhoon. Three people were killed. In 2002, Flight 11, an Airbus A340, departed Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport, Anchorage, Alaska at night from taxiway Kilo instead of runway 32. The 3 cockpit crew members, 12 cabin crew members, and 237 passengers, were not injured. The airplane was not damaged. On 2002 May 25, Flight 611, a Boeing 747-200, broke up in midflight on the way to Hong Kong International Airport in Hong Kong from Chiang Kai-shek International Airport in Taiwan. All of the passengers (206 people) and crew (19 people) on board died. On 2006 July 19, Flight 1682 traveling from Ho Chi Minh City to Taipei, had to make an emergency landing at Kaohsiung International Airport after a Vietnamese-American couple, who were reportedly drunk, attacked flight attendants. The husband broke the inner windowpane in the plane's cabin with his elbow. The noise caused a commotion on the plane, and two Taiwanese attendants who were fluent in Vietnamese tried to calm him down. However, he took a swing at one of the attendants. A male flight attendant was summoned to restrain the heavily built man, while the pilots asked for permission to make an emergency landing, claiming that the plane had been hijacked. The plane landed successfully without incident, and continued to Taipei. On 2007 June 27, China Airlines Flight AE845 bound from Kaoshiung to Hong Kong experienced a 'flameout' in both aircraft (Airbus A330-300) engines. The plane landed safely after avionics restarted the engines automatically. Neither the captain in command nor the crew noticed the incident Taipei Times Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tamizi Hj Tamby 1 Report post Posted August 21, 2007 Looks like China Airlines safety records were not impressive.The management better do something to settle the problems concerning to their fleet safety. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Denny Yen 0 Report post Posted August 21, 2007 News footage from Japanese TV http://news.tbs.co.jp/newseye/tbs_newseye3638948.html Sequence of events: Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Samuel Chy 0 Report post Posted August 21, 2007 On 2002 May 25, Flight 611, a Boeing 747-200, broke up in midflight on the way to Hong Kong International Airport in Hong Kong from Chiang Kai-shek International Airport in Taiwan. All of the passengers (206 people) and crew (19 people) on board died. OT: any more details regarding this incident? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Denny Yen 0 Report post Posted August 21, 2007 (edited) Pics from this morning's investigation... The following details emerged at the Japanese news conference this morning: no traces of fuel were detected at the rwy or taxiway. fuel leak occurred at apron ignition point for fuel is at 260 deg C and brake pad temp is around 200-220 deg C. Japanese investigators suspect fuel line rupture caused fuel to leak down the wing tanks onto apron and hot brake pads, which ignites the fuel investigators need to check flight data recorders to calculate the exact temp of brake pads this a/c underwent maintenance that night before its flight. Questions raised about why fuel line ruptured? Is it due to ground maintenance crew who had incorrectly replaced underwing panels. Or could this be similar to Concorde's underwing puncture? pilot seen jumping off from cockpit as explosion occurred is the 48 year old captain. He was the last to leave. This is an iPOD file showing footage taken by a Japanese using cellphone...you can hear sounds of camera-phone sounds and lively chatter in the background. You can see: - aft section, cabin crew were the last to leave cabin after all passengers have cleared - pilot was the last to leave the a/c - 1 major explosion and several smaller explosions - main landing gear collapsing - tail section slamming to the ground http://podcast.sankei.co.jp/movie/news/wmv...20china_air.wmv Edited August 21, 2007 by Denny Yen Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
S V Choong 4 Report post Posted August 21, 2007 Looks like it has taken the fire-fighters and fire-trucks ages to arrive. Did that happened to quick or did the fire fighters just took ages? I wonder why the ground staff did not tow the ANA 763 parked next to the smokin' CI B738 to some other location.... Seeing the explosion in real life is just WOW! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sneeze Lam 0 Report post Posted August 22, 2007 Looks like it has taken the fire-fighters and fire-trucks ages to arrive. Did that happened to quick or did the fire fighters just took ages? One of my friend noticed that, a ground staff (should be the loading staff) has tried to put out the fire by the extinguisher from his tow truck. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Desmond C 0 Report post Posted August 22, 2007 OT: any more details regarding this incident? Sorry, OT, check this out http://airsafe.com/ search china airline, lot of incident. May 2002; China Airlines 747-200; near the Penghu Islands, Taiwan: The aircraft experienced an in-flight breakup and crashed into the sea about 20 minutes into a flight from Taipei to Hong Kong while the aircraft was just above 30,000 feet.. The impact area was in the Taiwan Straits near the Penghu Islands about 75 km (47 mi) from the coast of Taiwan. Apparently, there was no distress signal, emergency message, or other indication of any problem sent out prior to the event. Weather and flight conditions were normal, and no distress signal or other communication was received prior to the crash. The 19 crew members and 206 passengers were all killed. The accident aircraft was the last 747-200 in passenger service with China Airlines and was to be sold to another carrier next month. According to Boeing, the aircraft was delivered to China Airlines in July 1979 and had accumulated approximately 21,180 landings and 64,394 flight hours. This nearly 22-year old aircraft was newer than similar models in the fleets of U.S. airlines. According to the FAA, the average age of Boeing 747-200 and 747-300 models in U.S. airline fleets at the time of this event was 24 years. This was the 26th fatal event involving the Boeing 747. The next most recent 747 event was an October 2000 Singapore Airlines accident in Taipei that killed 79 passengers and four crew members. There have been several fatal events involving in-flight breakups, including the 1996 event involving TWA Flight 800 and a November 2001 fatal event involving an American Airlines Airbus A300 over New York City. Previous in-flight breakups involving jet airliners have been due to varied causes, including a fuel tank explosion, severe weather or other atmospheric phenomena, bombs, missiles, and midair collisions. Fatal 747 Series Events Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Radzi 2 Report post Posted August 22, 2007 AFRS should be reaching the stricken aircraft in 90 seconds. In the video the first fire tender reached the aircraft 3 minutes and 10 seconds from the start of the recording. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sneeze Lam 0 Report post Posted August 22, 2007 The accident aircraft was the last 747-200 in passenger service with China Airlines and was to be sold to another carrier next month. This bird was sold to a Thai carrier, if I am not confused, it should be Oriental Thai. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Denny Yen 0 Report post Posted August 22, 2007 Watch this space...once the CI investigation is completed, it will be posted here. This is website of Japanese Min of Land & Transportation's Air accident investigation bureau. http://araic.assistmicro.co.jp/araic/aircr...p;OccurEnd=2007 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Edwin Yii 0 Report post Posted August 22, 2007 Denny i cant read Japs le...how? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
S V Choong 4 Report post Posted August 22, 2007 (edited) Get his wife to translate for you, Edwin Hate to say this but CI and KE have always been on my no-go list. Edited August 22, 2007 by S V Choong Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Denny Yen 0 Report post Posted August 22, 2007 (edited) Denny i cant read Japs le...how? Step 1 : Get a Japanese ah-moi GF Step 2 : She teach you Japanese language...you teach her body language.... =@ OT: any more details regarding this incident? Get the complete set of investigation report here... http://www.asc.gov.tw/asc_en/accident_list...?accident_no=83 Edited August 22, 2007 by Denny Yen Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
