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Old Posted Aug 20, 2007, 2:22 PM
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China Airlines 737 Inferno At Gate In Japan

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapc...ane/index.html

TOKYO, Japan (CNN) -- A Taiwanese jetliner burst into flames Monday morning shortly after landing at the Naha airport on the Japanese island of Okinawa, but 165 passengers and crew got off the plane safely, authorities said.



The Japanese Transport Ministry and the Naha Fire Department said the passengers included 155 adults and two toddlers. The crew was made up of 2 pilots and six flight attendants.

According to the ministry, there was "some sort of explosion" on board the China Airlines Boeing 737, but no other details were immediate available. Japanese media reported that a passenger saw a fire in one of the engines before the blast.

The Transport Ministry said the plane arrived in Okinawa from Taipei at 10:31 a.m. local time and stopped on the tarmac three minutes later to evacuate passengers. At 10:35 a.m., the fire department was called to the scene.

This incident is the latest in a series of accidents involving China Airlines. Jetliners for the air carrier crashed in 2002, 1999, 1998 and 1994, killing more than 1,000 people.

Another photo:



Dramatic video:

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=6ac_1187580141

The CNN article is somewhat inaccurate now that more information has come in. Reports from passengers interviewed on Japanese TV tonight indicate that there was a fire near the right wing root and that according to ground crew, while the passengers were disembarking, it spread to the left side of the aircraft and caused the left engine to explode.

When the fire was first noticed there were still passengers disembarking, so hats off to the CI flight attendants who got the remaining people out before things got really ugly. A real shame too for an airline that has worked hard to improve its public image in recent years.
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Old Posted Aug 20, 2007, 4:33 PM
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Somehow these incidents involving CI don't surprise me anymore, even after a period of tranquility on its safety record.
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Old Posted Aug 20, 2007, 8:00 PM
Daquan13 Daquan13 is offline
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OMG!

Thank God that ALL of the passengers and crew got out safely and unharmed!!

A leaking fuel tank is the suspected culprit.

Last edited by Daquan13; Aug 20, 2007 at 11:21 PM.
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Old Posted Aug 21, 2007, 1:56 PM
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Here's another video showing how the last passengers were evacuated seconds before the engines exploded. Pretty intense:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rXny...elated&search=
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  #5  
Old Posted Aug 21, 2007, 2:15 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by hkskyline View Post
Somehow these incidents involving CI don't surprise me anymore, even after a period of tranquility on its safety record.
Poor China Airlines. I have talked with many of their pilots here in Nashville and they seems to love working for CI. My hope is that everything is cleared of being CI's fault in this and things, and people, can move on. But who knows. My props to the CI FA's for their very hard and diligent work!
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Old Posted Aug 21, 2007, 2:39 PM
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This is hardly the fault of CI from all appearances. Not only did the ground crew (though they had assistance from JTA) and flight crew perform professionally, but a ramp fire due to fuel leakage can happen just about anywhere. More investigation of this particular issue regarding the 737 needs to be done, and it has already thankfully begun. This is something like the fifth time a 737 has had a fuel fire when parked.
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Old Posted Aug 21, 2007, 6:53 PM
Daquan13 Daquan13 is offline
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Originally Posted by urbanflyer View Post
This is hardly the fault of CI from all appearances. Not only did the ground crew (though they had assistance from JTA) and flight crew perform professionally, but a ramp fire due to fuel leakage can happen just about anywhere. More investigation of this particular issue regarding the 737 needs to be done, and it has already thankfully begun. This is something like the fifth time a 737 has had a fuel fire when parked.


An American woman and her two children appeared via satelite on the Today Show this morning, and she described the horror that took place before and after she and everyone else got out.

She said that right after they got out, there was a loud explosion and the middle was completely engulfed in flames.
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Old Posted Aug 22, 2007, 12:34 AM
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Numerous eyewitnesses shown on Japanese TV yesterday reported that shortly after parking the fire on the right wing was immediately noticed, followed by the windows popping and melting. The evacuation call was given with shouting in Chinese, Japanese and English. Everyone was out in around 94 seconds. Job well done, chaotic or not.

There are now numerous findings that have been released by Japan's Ministry of Transportation already:

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/national/ne...1.htm?from=top (a rough translation as my Japanese reading is pretty much at a schoolkid's level):

the fuel leak was likely near the right (No. 2) engine's pylon. fuel entered the engine and spilled onto the ground as well. ground staff noticed the leak and the pilots cut off the fuel flow to the engine. fuel was already pooled in the engine and on the ground and engine heat ignited it. even after the engine stopped the high pressure fuel pump was operational, enlarging the leak. wind was from right to left so the fire spread to the other side of the plane, causing the later explosion.

investigators are now trying to locate the first leak.

Also according to this article: http://www.iza.ne.jp/news/newsarticle/event/78227/

there's evidence to suggest there wasn't a leak prior to arrival. The aircraft left Taipei with 7920 kg (17460 lbs) of fuel and arrived at Naha with 4717 kg (10399 lbs)
this was within the expected range of fuel burn for such a short flight (~55 minutes).

Last edited by urbanflyer; Aug 22, 2007 at 12:55 AM.
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  #9  
Old Posted Aug 22, 2007, 1:46 AM
sungFFman sungFFman is offline
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Video Link


related news if anyone's interested.

Shame that China Airlines has to live through yet another event like this. But from what it sounds like, the crew was very professional and efficient. At least that's good
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  #10  
Old Posted Aug 23, 2007, 2:54 PM
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Much more out of Japan now...

The Transport Ministry's investigators have apparently found that a bolt in the no. 5 leading edge slat somehow moved and created a 3 cm hole in the fuel tank. According to them, it appears to be the source of the leak and the assembly in question wasn't badly damaged in the fire due to being on the right side of the aircraft.

http://www.mlit.go.jp/kisha/kisha07/12/120823_2/01.pdf

http://www.asahi.com/national/update...708230268.html
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Old Posted Aug 23, 2007, 9:49 PM
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Hardly surprising with CI...
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