China Airlines Flight 358

Template:Short description Template:More citations needed Template:Infobox aircraft occurrence China Airlines Flight 358 was a Boeing 747-2R7F/SCD freighter that crashed on December 29, 1991, shortly after takeoff from Chiang Kai-shek International Airport near Taipei, Taiwan. All five crew members were killed.

Aircraft

The aircraft was a Boeing 747-2R7F/SCD, built in September 1980 for Cargolux as the City of Esch-sur-Alzette, registration LX-ECV, MSN 22390. It was acquired by China Airlines in June 1985 and was re-registered as B-198. It had been in service for 11 years and 3 months.<ref name="asn">Template:ASN accident</ref> The aircraft had clocked a total of 45,868 hours of flight time and 9,095 takeoff and landing cycles during its time in service. The last A-check maintenance had occurred on 21 December 1991, and the aircraft had accumulated 74 hours of flight time since that point.<ref name="asn" /><ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref>

The aircraft was the same one involved in the China Airlines Flight 334 hijacking on 3 May 1986.

Accident

Several minutes after takeoff, while at an altitude of Template:Cvt, the crew reported problems with the number 3 engine, prompting Taipei air traffic control (ATC) to vector the flight into a left turn to return to the airport.<ref name=":0" /> Approximately two minutes later, the crew reported that they were unable to turn left, and ATC approved a right-hand turn instead. This was the last radio contact made by the crew. The crew lost control of the aircraft and it struck a hill, right wing first, near Wanli, Taipei. The crash occurred at approximately 3:05 p.m, at an altitude of Template:Convert.<ref name="asn" /> All five crew members died in the crash, and there were no injuries on the ground.

Investigation

The subsequent investigation revealed that the number 3 engine and its pylon had separated from the aircraft and struck the number 4 engine, breaking it off the wing as well.<ref name="asn" /> A more detailed investigation revealed that the pylon midspar fittings, which attach the pylon to the lower portion of the wing front spar, had failed. The search for the number 3 engine and its pylon, which landed in the sea, took several months.<ref name=":0" />

Information from the investigation of this crash and the nearly identical crash of El Al Flight 1862 ten months later resulted in Boeing ordering pylon modifications to every 747 in use.<ref name="final">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":0" />

See also

• Trans-Air Service Flight 671 – a 707 that suffered a dual engine separation but landed safely
• American Airlines Flight 191 – another flight that also crashed due to engine detachment caused by maintenance error
• China Airlines Flight 611 – another 747-200 that also crashed shortly after take off from Taipei in 2002