China Airlines Flight 358

China Airlines Flight 358 was a Boeing 747-2R7F freighter plane that crashed on December 29, 1991 shortly after takeoff from Chiang Kai-shek International Airport in Taipei, Taiwan. The aircraft was a 747, registration B-198, that had been in service for 11 years, 3 months ^[1]. The aircraft had clocked a total of 45,868 hours of flight time during its time in service. The last A-check maintenance had occurred on December 21, 1991, and the aircraft had accumulated 74 hours of flight time since that point.^[1]

Several minutes after takeoff, the crew reported problems with the #2 engine, prompting Taipei air traffic control (ATC) to vector the flight into a left turn to return to the airport. Approximately two minutes later, the crew reported that they were unable to turn left, and ATC approved right-hand turn instead. This was the last radio contact made by the crew. The crew lost control of the airplane and it struck a hill, right wing first, near Wanli, Taipei. The crash occurred at approximately 3:05 PM, at an altitude of 700 feet.^[1] All five crewmembers died in the crash, and there were no injuries on the ground.

The subsequent investigation revealed that the #3 engine and its pylon had separated from the airplane and struck the #4 engine, breaking it off the wing as well.^[1] 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 #3 engine and its pylon, which landed in the sea, took several months. Subsequently, Boeing recalled every 747 in use for pylon modifications.

See also

• Air safety
• American Airlines Flight 191 - May 25, 1979 - Also suffered a pylon failure.
• El Al Flight 1862 - October 4, 1992 - Also suffered a pylon failure of almost exactly the same nature; engine number 3 broke off and hit number 4, breaking it off as well.

References