Everything about China Airlines Flight 611 totally explained
China Airlines Flight 611 Callsign: Dynasty 611 (CAL611, CI611) was a
747 on a regularly scheduled flight from
Chiang Kai Shek International Airport (now,
Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport) in
Taoyuan to
Chek Lap Kok International Airport in the
Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China. While in flight the aircraft broke into pieces in mid-air and crashed, killing all aboard on
May 25 2002.
CNN referred to the crash as the "Taiwan Tragedy".
Flight and disaster
On
May 25, the flight took off at 2:50 p.m. local time for the 1 hour 20 minute flight to Hong Kong.
About 25 minutes after takeoff, the aircraft disappeared from radar screens, suggesting it had experienced an
in-flight breakup at FL350 (approximately 35,000 feet, or 7 miles), near the
Pescadore Islands (Penghu) in the Taiwan Strait. All 19 crew members and 206 passengers died. 114 of the passengers were members of a group tour to Hong Kong or PRC China organized by five travel agencies. The plane was expected to arrive at 4:28 p.m.
Nationalities of the Passengers
| Nationality |
Passengers |
Crew |
Total |
|
9 |
0 |
9 |
|
5 |
0 |
5 |
|
1 |
0 |
1 |
|
1 |
0 |
1 |
| (ROC) |
190 |
19 |
209 |
| Total |
206 |
19 |
225 |
The People's Republic of China figure includes 9 residents of
Mainland China and 5 residents of .
All of the passengers on board were
Chinese except the passenger from Switzerland. The first 82 bodies, those of 76 passengers and 6 cabin crew, were found floating on the surface of the ocean, and were recovered by fishing vessels, the Coast Guard, and military vessels.
Three flight crew members were autopsied. Authorities placed ten bodies and some human remains in an
X-ray.
Most of the recovered passengers in the rear of the jet (Zones D through E) were found
naked, since their clothes were torn off due to the forces of the decompression. Most of the recovered passengers in the front of the jet (Zones A through C) were found clothed.
Of the recovered passengers Radar data suggests that the aircraft broke into four pieces while at FL350. This theory is supported by the fact that articles which would have been found inside the aircraft (magazines, etc.) were found up to 80 miles (129 km) from the crash site. The weather and climate were normal. The
Cockpit voice recorder showed that the pilot didn't detect any anomaly and was humming the famous oldie tune "
When Will You Return?" by
Teresa Teng.
The flight data recorder from Flight 611 shows that the plane began gaining altitude at a significantly faster rate in the 27 seconds before the plane broke apart, although the extra gain in altitude was well within the plane's design limits. The plane was supposed to be leveling off then as it approached its cruising altitude of 35,000 feet. Shortly before the breakup, one of the aircraft's four engines began providing slightly less thrust. Coincidentally, the engine was the only one recovered from the sea floor. Pieces of the aircraft were found in the ocean and on Taiwan, including in the city of
Changhua .
The Republic of China (Taiwan) and the
People's Republic of China co-operated in the recovery of the aircraft; the People's Republic of China allowing personnel from Taiwan to search for bodies and aircraft fragments in those
Taiwan Strait waters controlled by the People's Republic of China.
Flight Number
Flight 611 no longer exists. Shortly after the accident, China Airlines changed the flight number to 619, which now serves the Taipei - Hong Kong route along with existing flights 601, 603, 605, 607, 609, 613, 615, 617, and 803.
The Aircraft
The aircraft (originally registered as B-1866) involved, MSN 21843, was the only
Boeing 747-200 passenger aircraft left in the China Airlines fleet at the time. It was delivered to the airline in
1979 and had logged 64,810 hours of flight time. Prior to the crash China Airlines had sold B-18255 to
Orient Thai Airlines for
US$1.45 million. The accident flight was the aircraft's penultimate flight for China Airlines as it was scheduled to be delivered to Orient Thai Airlines after its return flight from Hong Kong to Taipei. The contract to sell the aircraft was voided after the crash.
The remaining four 747-200 freighters in China Airlines fleet were grounded immediately by Taiwan's Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) after the crash. The airline returned the jets to service a few days later after maintenance checks.
Further Information
Get more info on 'China Airlines Flight 611'.
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