Boeing 747 crash over Taiwan Strait

Boeing 747-209B (registration number B-18255, serial number 21843, serial 386) was released in 1979 (the first flight took place on July 16). On July 31 of the same year, it was transferred to China Airlines with tail number B-1866, on January 1, 1999 it was re-registered and received tail number B-18255. Equipped with four Pratt & Whitney JT9D-7AW turbofan engines . On the day of the disaster, he made 21,180 take-off and landing cycles and flew 64,394 hours ^{[1] [2]} .

On February 7, 1980, 22 years before the crash, while landing at a Hong Kong airport, the plane hit the runway with its tail. Subsequently, the tail was repaired, and the aircraft continued to fly.

The aircraft was managed by a very experienced crew, the composition of which was as follows:

• The aircraft commander (FAC) is 51-year-old Yi Qingfeng ( Ching-Fong Yi , Chinese 易 清 豐 ). Very experienced pilot, worked at China Airlines for 11 years (since May 1, 1991). In the post of commander of the Boeing 747 - since March 1997. 10 148 hours flew, 4732 of them on the Boeing 747.
• The co - pilot is 52-year-old Xie Yasyun ( English Yea Shyong Shieh , Chinese 謝亞雄 ). Very experienced pilot, worked at China Airlines for 12 years and 3 months (since February 1, 1990). 10 173 hours flew, 5831 of them on the Boeing 747.
• Flight Engineer - 54-year-old Chao Sengo ( English Sen Kuo Chao , Chinese. 趙盛國 ). He worked at China Airlines for 22 years and 2 months (since March 1, 1977). It flew 19 117 hours, 15 397 of them on the Boeing 747.

16 cabin crew worked in the cabin .

In total, 225 people were on board - 206 passengers and 19 crew members.

On May 25, 2002, a Boeing 747-209B flew B-18255 from Chiang Kai-shek Airport at 15:08 Taiwan time (07:08 UTC) and headed for Hong Kong.

At 15:33, when flight CI 611 took flight FL350 (10,600 meters), its tail suddenly broke off, the liner entered at a peak, scattered into several parts and crashed into the Taiwan Strait 45 kilometers from Penghu Island. The catastrophe developed instantly, because of which the pilots did not even have time to get in touch with the dispatchers ^[3] .

At 3:37 p.m. Taiwan time, a Cathay Pacific plane caught a beacon from a crashed plane while flying over the Taiwan Strait. All 225 people on board CI611 died ^[4] .

The investigation into the causes of the crash of flight CI 611 was undertaken by the Aviation Safety Council (ASC) (China).

The final report of the investigation was published on February 25, 2005.

According to the report, the cause of the crash was the fact that the plane collapsed in the air due to a fatigue crack in section 46 of the tail section of the aircraft, which in February 1980 was damaged during landing at a large angle and was subsequently poorly repaired ^[5] .

China Airlines, in deference to passengers and crew of flight 611, has changed the Taipei-Hong Kong flight number from CI 611 to CI 619.

The crash of China Airlines flight 611 was shown in season 7 of the Canadian documentary television series Crash Investigation in the Disintegrated Series in Seconds .

• The crash of the Boeing 747 near Tokyo - identical to the events preceding the crash
• The crash of a Boeing 747 near New York
• Accident An-24 in Cherkessk
• Incident with Boeing 737 over Kahului

• ASC Investigation Final Report (Part 1)
• ASC Final Report (Part 2)
• Description of the disaster on the Aviation Safety Network
• Ballistic Trajectory Analysis for the CI611 Accident Investigation ( Archive )
• 0525 Flight CI 611 Status Updates
• China Airlines Statement on CI 611 Accident Investigation Report