A300Capt
Freight Dawg
Pilot error blamed for typhoon crash
February 5, 2005
Pilot error caused the crash of China Airlines flight 642 which killed
three people and seriously injured 50 at typhoon-hit Chek Lap Kok airport in
August 1999, the Civil Aviation Department (CAD) said on Friday.
``The investigation team identified the cause of the accident as the
commander's inability to arrest the high rate of descent,'' the report said.
China Airlines, however, called the report's conclusion
``unacceptable'' and said there was ``abundant factual information'' to
demonstrate that bad weather was a main cause of the accident, according to
Associated Press.
The Boeing MD 11, with 300 passengers and crew on board, was flying
from Bangkok to Hong Kong with Taipei as its final destination.
In addition, the report said that on two occasions prior to the crash
the co-pilot had provided incorrect information to the commander, and that
neither pilot perceived the increasing rate of descent and decreasing
indicated airspeed as the aircraft approached the landing flare.
Despite efforts, the high rate of descent could not be reduced and the
aircraft hit the runway with its right wing slightly down. The right main
landing gear collapsed, resulting in the right wing separating from the
aircraft, igniting spilled fuel and causing the plane to roll, before it
came to a final stop upside-down alongside the runway and facing in the
direction of the approach, the report said.
Other probable contributory causes to the high rate of descent
included the commander's failure to apply power to counteract it to
touchdown, and variations in wind direction and speed, the report said.
A spokesman for the department said that the purpose of the report was
not to blame anyone, but to prevent the recurrence of such an accident in
the future. With 10 fatal crashes in the past three decades, the
Taipei-based carrier has one of the world's worst safety records.
In a separate incident in May 2002, a China Airlines flight from
Taipei to Hong Kong went down over the Taiwan Strait with the loss of all
225 people on board.
Friday's report was just another chapter in a controversial saga that
has evolved in the 5½ years since the 1999 crash. The Inspector of
Accidents' investigation, which was reviewed in April 2002, put the blame
squarely on the pilot, Italian Gerardo Lettich.
However, the findings never made it beyond draft status, because the
review was challenged by China Airlines and the plane's co-pilot Captain Liu
Cheng Hsi.
In September 2002, Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa appointed a three-man
independent board of review, under the chairmanship of Ernest Lin, principal
magistrate of Kowloon City Magistrates Courts.
The board completed its review in December 2004, but the findings were
only made public on Friday.
The report listed several safety-related recommendations, most of
which call on China Airlines to beef up its training and operational
procedures.
CAD was urged to install videos to monitor touchdown zones on runways,
and the Hong Kong Observatory was encouraged to provide more information
regarding airflows near the airport.
The CAD spokesman said these recommendations have already been put in
place.
CAL REFUSES TO ACCEPT HONG KONG'S REPORT ON 1999 CRASH
2005/02/04 22:04:52
Taipei, Feb. 4 (CNA) China Airlines (CAL) , Taiwan's largest carrier,
refused Friday to accept the results of an investigation by the Hong Kong
civil aviation authorities into a CAL jet crash in August 1999 at Chek Lap
Kok Airport, arguing that wind shear, rather than human error, was behind
the accident. CAL public relations director Liang Han-chung said that the
aviation company cannot accept the investigation results that ascribed the
fatal accident to pilot error on the grounds that Boeing Corporation, the
maker of the MD-11 jet plane, found new evidence during the investigation
that a wind gust suddenly changed direction 1.5 seconds before the plane
touched down. Evidence collected from the plane's flight data recorder (FDR)
showed that swift wind changes, triggered by a tropical storm sweeping
through Hong Kong at that time, made the pilot unable to control the
aircraft's sudden descend, Liang said, pointing out that wind, not the
pilot, caused the accident. According to Liang, CAL forwarded the evidence
to the Hong Kong Civil Aviation Department and asked it to attach the
information to its investigation report. CAL CI642 from Bangkok with 300
passengers and crew on board plunged into the runway of Chek Lap Kok Airport
Aug. 22, 1999 while trying to land during a typhoon. It flipped and burst
into flames, killing three and seriously injuring 50. Taiwan's Aviation
Security Commission, which helped in the investigation, pointed out that the
FDR showed that the pilot tried hard to keep the airplane aloft when the
gust hit. But the wind was too strong for the pilot to respond, it
concluded. The plane crashed at the airport of Hong Kong, and the Hong Kong
government was in charge of carrying out the plane in line with
international norms. According to the Hong Kong investigation report, the
cause of the accident was the commander's inability to arrest the high rate
of descent, a foreign wire service reported. The pilot was descending too
fast as he tried to touch down during a tropical storm, the services
reported, citing the Hong Kong's Civil Aviation Department.
Accident Description:
http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19990822-0
Full report at: http://www.info.gov.hk/cad/reports/main1.pdf
Appendices: http://www.info.gov.hk/cad/reports/app1.pdf
Pretty amazing video of accident taken from a perimeter road:
http://streaming.scmp.com/aircrash/CAL_Plane_crash1f.avi
February 5, 2005
Pilot error caused the crash of China Airlines flight 642 which killed
three people and seriously injured 50 at typhoon-hit Chek Lap Kok airport in
August 1999, the Civil Aviation Department (CAD) said on Friday.
``The investigation team identified the cause of the accident as the
commander's inability to arrest the high rate of descent,'' the report said.
China Airlines, however, called the report's conclusion
``unacceptable'' and said there was ``abundant factual information'' to
demonstrate that bad weather was a main cause of the accident, according to
Associated Press.
The Boeing MD 11, with 300 passengers and crew on board, was flying
from Bangkok to Hong Kong with Taipei as its final destination.
In addition, the report said that on two occasions prior to the crash
the co-pilot had provided incorrect information to the commander, and that
neither pilot perceived the increasing rate of descent and decreasing
indicated airspeed as the aircraft approached the landing flare.
Despite efforts, the high rate of descent could not be reduced and the
aircraft hit the runway with its right wing slightly down. The right main
landing gear collapsed, resulting in the right wing separating from the
aircraft, igniting spilled fuel and causing the plane to roll, before it
came to a final stop upside-down alongside the runway and facing in the
direction of the approach, the report said.
Other probable contributory causes to the high rate of descent
included the commander's failure to apply power to counteract it to
touchdown, and variations in wind direction and speed, the report said.
A spokesman for the department said that the purpose of the report was
not to blame anyone, but to prevent the recurrence of such an accident in
the future. With 10 fatal crashes in the past three decades, the
Taipei-based carrier has one of the world's worst safety records.
In a separate incident in May 2002, a China Airlines flight from
Taipei to Hong Kong went down over the Taiwan Strait with the loss of all
225 people on board.
Friday's report was just another chapter in a controversial saga that
has evolved in the 5½ years since the 1999 crash. The Inspector of
Accidents' investigation, which was reviewed in April 2002, put the blame
squarely on the pilot, Italian Gerardo Lettich.
However, the findings never made it beyond draft status, because the
review was challenged by China Airlines and the plane's co-pilot Captain Liu
Cheng Hsi.
In September 2002, Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa appointed a three-man
independent board of review, under the chairmanship of Ernest Lin, principal
magistrate of Kowloon City Magistrates Courts.
The board completed its review in December 2004, but the findings were
only made public on Friday.
The report listed several safety-related recommendations, most of
which call on China Airlines to beef up its training and operational
procedures.
CAD was urged to install videos to monitor touchdown zones on runways,
and the Hong Kong Observatory was encouraged to provide more information
regarding airflows near the airport.
The CAD spokesman said these recommendations have already been put in
place.
CAL REFUSES TO ACCEPT HONG KONG'S REPORT ON 1999 CRASH
2005/02/04 22:04:52
Taipei, Feb. 4 (CNA) China Airlines (CAL) , Taiwan's largest carrier,
refused Friday to accept the results of an investigation by the Hong Kong
civil aviation authorities into a CAL jet crash in August 1999 at Chek Lap
Kok Airport, arguing that wind shear, rather than human error, was behind
the accident. CAL public relations director Liang Han-chung said that the
aviation company cannot accept the investigation results that ascribed the
fatal accident to pilot error on the grounds that Boeing Corporation, the
maker of the MD-11 jet plane, found new evidence during the investigation
that a wind gust suddenly changed direction 1.5 seconds before the plane
touched down. Evidence collected from the plane's flight data recorder (FDR)
showed that swift wind changes, triggered by a tropical storm sweeping
through Hong Kong at that time, made the pilot unable to control the
aircraft's sudden descend, Liang said, pointing out that wind, not the
pilot, caused the accident. According to Liang, CAL forwarded the evidence
to the Hong Kong Civil Aviation Department and asked it to attach the
information to its investigation report. CAL CI642 from Bangkok with 300
passengers and crew on board plunged into the runway of Chek Lap Kok Airport
Aug. 22, 1999 while trying to land during a typhoon. It flipped and burst
into flames, killing three and seriously injuring 50. Taiwan's Aviation
Security Commission, which helped in the investigation, pointed out that the
FDR showed that the pilot tried hard to keep the airplane aloft when the
gust hit. But the wind was too strong for the pilot to respond, it
concluded. The plane crashed at the airport of Hong Kong, and the Hong Kong
government was in charge of carrying out the plane in line with
international norms. According to the Hong Kong investigation report, the
cause of the accident was the commander's inability to arrest the high rate
of descent, a foreign wire service reported. The pilot was descending too
fast as he tried to touch down during a tropical storm, the services
reported, citing the Hong Kong's Civil Aviation Department.
Accident Description:
http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19990822-0
Full report at: http://www.info.gov.hk/cad/reports/main1.pdf
Appendices: http://www.info.gov.hk/cad/reports/app1.pdf
Pretty amazing video of accident taken from a perimeter road:
http://streaming.scmp.com/aircrash/CAL_Plane_crash1f.avi
