China Airlines Flight 204
B-180, the aircraft involved in the accident,1986
Accident
Date26 October 1989 (1989-10-26)
SummaryTakeoff from wrong runway, wrong turn after airborne due to pilot error
SiteChiashan mountain range, 5,5 km (3.4 mls) north off Hualien Airport, Taiwan
Aircraft
Aircraft typeBoeing 737-209
OperatorChina Airlines
IATA flight No.CI204
ICAO flight No.CAL204
Call signDYNASTY 204
RegistrationB-180
Flight originHualien Airport
DestinationTaoyuan International Airport
Occupants54
Passengers47
Crew7
Fatalities54
Survivors0

China Airlines Flight 204 (CI204/CAL204) was a Boeing 737-200 that crashed into a mountain after takeoff from Hualien Airport, Taiwan, on 26 October 1989. The crash killed all 54 passengers and crew on board the aircraft.

Aircraft

The aircraft was a Boeing 737-209, registration B-180, which first flew on 3 December 1986 and was delivered to the airline two weeks later.[1]

Accident

Flight 204 departed Hualien Airport on a short-haul domestic flight to Chiang Kai-shek International Airport (now Taoyuan International Airport) on the island of Taiwan[2] with 47 passengers and seven crew members aboard. Ten minutes after takeoff, the plane collided with a mountain in the Chiashan range at an altitude of approximately 2,100 metres (6,900 ft), 5.5 km (3.4 mi) north of the airport. All 54 passengers and crew members were killed.[1][3][4]

Cause

The major cause of the crash was determined to be pilot error, as the experienced pilot (15 years with China Airlines) and a novice copilot departed from the wrong runway, a mistake compounded by ground-control personnel who failed to spot the error. The aircraft then flew the climb-out procedure for the correct runway, and as a result, the aircraft made a left turn toward the mountains rather than a right turn toward the sea.[3][5]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Aircraft accident Boeing 737-209 B-180 Hualien Airport (HUN)". Retrieved 3 June 2010.
  2. ↑ "Database Thursday 26 October 1989". Aviation Safety Network by Flight Safety Foundation. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
  3. 1 2 "Crashed 737 'turned wrong way'". Flight International, 4 November 1989, p. 8.
  4. ↑ "Accident Details". planecrashinfo.com. Retrieved 3 June 2010.
  5. ↑ "CVR reveals pilot error". Flight International, 6–12 December 1989, p. 8.


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