A three man China Airlines flight crew missed a number of red flags before they made a wrong takeoff from a taxiway instead of the runway.
That’s according to a new report filed with the NTSB in Washington, DC, by the agency’s regional office.
What the report doesn’t explain is why. Air traffic controllers at Ted Stevens Anchorage international airport cleared flight 011 for takeoff on runway 32 just before 3 a.m on jan 25.
But the planes co-pilot powered up on the taxiway leading to the runway.
The plane roared down a strip of tarmac only about half the length of the runway.In the tower, controller’s anticipating a disastrous plane crash alerted emergency crews, decided not to order the flight crew to abort fearing it was to late—–and waited.
Flight 011 barely cleared the ground: airport crews later found twin grooves in a snow berm at the end of the taxiway, nicked by the planes landing gear. The plane carrying 237 pasengers and 12 cabin crew, safely flew to Taipei, where it landed about 12 hours later.
By: kev35 - 5th June 2003 at 23:01
I think I remember this being reported on in another magazine. In their report it said that as the aircraft took off one of the controllers said over the air to another something along the lines of…
‘He’s not climbing too good.’
To which the other replied…..
‘No, he wasn’t taxying too well either.’
Regards,
kev35
By: mongu - 5th June 2003 at 17:42
True, but that’s a very unfortunate decision to call it “China Airlines” bearing in mind China’s bad safety reputation.
To most people “China” = “dodgy”.
By: Bhoy - 5th June 2003 at 00:27
yeah, but China Airlines aren’t Chinese, they’re Taiwanese, so no point stereotyping Chinese carriers.
By: KabirT - 4th June 2003 at 14:14
Very lucky indeed……its getting to regular in China.
By: EGNM - 4th June 2003 at 13:10
Originally posted by Selsport69
Questions have got to be asked why the Control Tower never even said anything even if it was too late. Somebody really has to go into China Airways and have a good look at them and see what the problem is whether it be training or what. the same was done at Korean Air where it was found that the mixture of ex fighter pilots and normal flight trained crew was an issue.
I think the Tower actually did right if you think about it – an a/c is roaring down a taxiway at approaching 90/100knts. An aborted t/o on the taxiway which was HALF THE LENGTH of the runway, would have cause a high speed run off onto a non approved overrun area – personally i think this was more dangerous – even if a call came and the crew hesitated for a second now they were halfway through the scenareo could have been disasterous. Very very lucky
By: steve rowell - 4th June 2003 at 11:40
An investigation team examining the midair breakup of a China Airlines 747-200 on may 25, 2002 found old fatigue cracks and corrosion that were patched over with a “Repair Doubler” that had been added as reinforcment after the aircraft had suffered a tail scrape at Kai tak in 1980.
The 747 disintergrated in mid-flight near the island of Penghu in the Taiwan strait as it was on route to Hong Kong.
According to investigator Kay Yong,MD of the Taiwan Aviation Safety Council, the team found multiple-site fatigue cracks in a length of 69.5 in. Yong said some of the cracks penetrated the entire skin.
By: mongu - 4th June 2003 at 11:00
I’ll never fly with a Chinese airline (Cathay apart).
You do hear a lot of horror stories and there seem to be more than their fair share of crashes. I have no confidence they are ever investigated, but brushed under the carpet in true commie fashion. Just look at how their true colours came out with the SARS debacle and the disinformation they produced. Stalin would be proud of his comrades.
Then there is the fact that all these strange airlines are really the same but with different names – China Eastern, Southern, Northern or whatever. It is just too Orwellian for me. I feel that Big Brother is watching all the time, because he really owns and controls all these supposed “independent” airlines.
By: Selsport69 - 4th June 2003 at 08:51
Questions have got to be asked why the Control Tower never even said anything even if it was too late. Somebody really has to go into China Airways and have a good look at them and see what the problem is whether it be training or what. the same was done at Korean Air where it was found that the mixture of ex fighter pilots and normal flight trained crew was an issue.
By: greekdude1 - 4th June 2003 at 08:05
China Airlines, yet again. This time, the escaped unscathed. They were lucky.
By: robc - 4th June 2003 at 07:31
The crazy things you hear about
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June 4, 2003 at 5:49 am