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China Airlines Flight 006 (callsign "Dynasty 006") was a daily non-stop flight from Taipei to Los Angeles International Airport. On 19 February 1985, the Boeing 747SP operating the flight was involved in an aircraft upset accident, following the failure of the No. 4 engine, while cruising at 41,000 ft (12,500 m). The plane rolled over and plunged 30,000 ft (9,100 m), experiencing high speeds and g-forces (approaching 5g[1]) before the captain was able to recover from the dive, and then to divert to San Francisco International Airport.[1]

China Airlines Flight 006
Damage to N4522V's horizontal stabilizers after it experienced an uncontrolled descent of 30,000 ft
Accident
Date19 February 1985
SummaryHigh altitude upset and 30,000 ft dive due to spatial disorientation after failure of Engine 4 caused by Pilot Error, and Pilot fatigue
SitePacific Ocean, near San Francisco, California, United States
Aircraft
Aircraft typeBoeing 747SP-09
OperatorChina Airlines
IATA flight No.CI006
ICAO flight No.CAL006
Call signDYNASTY 006
RegistrationN4522V
Flight originChiang Kai Shek Int'l Airport
StopoverSan Francisco International Airport
DestinationLos Angeles International Airport
Occupants274
Passengers251
Crew23
Fatalities0
Injuries24 (2 serious)
Survivors274

Accident


N4522V, the aircraft involved, seen at Kai Tak Airport, in 1991
N4522V, the aircraft involved, seen at Kai Tak Airport, in 1991

The aircraft had departed from Taipei at 16:22 local time. The accident occurred 10 hours into the flight. The Boeing 747SP-09 was 350 miles (560 km) northwest of San Francisco, cruising at an altitude of 41,000 ft (12,500 m). The cockpit crew consisted of Captain Min-Yuan Ho, age 55, First Officer Ju-Yue Chang, age 53, Flight Engineer Kuo-Pin Wei, age 55, Relief Captain Chien-Yuan Liao, age 53, and Relief Flight Engineer Shih-Lung Su, age 41.[1] Captain Ho had approximately 15,500 flight hours, including 3,748 hours on the Boeing 747. The First Officer had more than 7,700 hours with 4,553 of them on the Boeing 747, and the Flight Engineer had approximately 15,500 hours of flight time, including 4,363 hours on the Boeing 747.[1] The accident occurred while the main crew was on duty.

The sequence began with a loss of thrust in the No. 4 engine. That engine had failed twice during previous flights (while cruising at FL 410 and 430). In each of those cases, the engine was restarted after descending to a lower altitude. The maintenance response to the logbook entries that noted the attempted solutions included engine inspection; fuel filter drainage and replacement; vane controller inspection and replacement; water drainage from Mach probes; and other filter replacements. None of those acts fixed the recurrent problem with the No. 4 engine.[1][2]

Diagram of aircraft roll/pitch attitudes and time from the NTSB report
Diagram of aircraft roll/pitch attitudes and time from the NTSB report

The flight engineer attempted to restore power to the engine but didn't close the bleed valve as required by the checklist procedure.[1]:26 After the flight engineer announced the engine had flamed out, the captain instructed him to restart it, and ordered the first officer to request clearance for a descent from FL 410 (41,000 feet). According to the flight manual, engine restart is unlikely to succeed above 30,000 feet (9,100 m).[1]:2

Meanwhile, airspeed decreased, and the autopilot rolled the control wheel to the maximum left limit of 23 degrees while maintaining level flight. As the speed decreased even further, the plane began to roll to the right even though the autopilot was maintaining the maximum left roll limit. By the time the captain disconnected the autopilot, the plane had rolled over 60 degrees to the right and the nose had begun to drop. Ailerons and flight spoilers were the only means available to the autopilot to keep the wings level as the autopilot does not connect to the rudder during normal flight. To counteract the asymmetrical forces created by the loss of thrust from the No. 4 engine, it was essential for the pilot to manually push on the left rudder. However, the captain failed to use any rudder inputs at all, before or after disconnecting the autopilot. The resulting uncontrolled flight path is depicted in the diagram.[1]:10–11

As the plane descended through clouds, the captain's attention was drawn to the attitude indicator, which displayed excessive bank and pitch indications. Because such an attitude is highly irregular, the captain incorrectly assumed the indicators to be faulty.[1]:3 Without any visual references (due to the clouds) to determine the aircraft's attitude and having rejected the information from the attitude indicators, the captain and first officer became spatially disoriented.[1]:31

Only after breaking through the bottom of the clouds at 11,000 feet (3,400 m) was the captain able to reorient himself and bring the plane under control, leveling out at 9,600 feet (2,900 m). The aircraft had descended 30,000 ft (9,100 m) in under two and a half minutes, while all onboard experienced g-forces as high as 5 G.[1]:12 At that point, the cockpit crew believed that all four engines had flamed out, but the National Transportation Safety Board found that only engine No. 4 had failed.

After leveling out, the three remaining engines continued supplying normal thrust. Another restart attempt brought engine No. 4 back into use. The aircraft began climbing. The crew reported "condition normal now" to air traffic control, along with the intention of continuing on to Los Angeles. They then noticed that the inboard main landing gear was down and one of the plane's hydraulic systems was empty.[1]:5 Because they did not have sufficient fuel to reach Los Angeles with the drag added by the deployed landing gear, they diverted to San Francisco. An emergency was declared and they diverted to San Francisco International Airport.[1]:5 The plane landed without further incident.[3]


Aftermath


N4522V at Tijuana International Airport in 2009
N4522V at Tijuana International Airport in 2009

There were two serious injuries on board: a fracture and laceration of a foot, and an acute back strain requiring two days of hospitalization. The aircraft was significantly damaged by the excessive G-forces. The wings were permanently bent upwards by 2 inches (5 cm), the inboard main landing gear lost two actuator doors, and the two inboard main gear struts were left dangling.[1][4] Most affected was the tail, where large outer parts of the horizontal stabilizer had been ripped off. The entire left outboard elevator had been lost along with its actuator, which had been powered by the hydraulic system that ruptured and drained.[1][4]

After repairs were made to the plane, it returned to service on 25 April 1985. It continued in service for nearly 12 years until it was leased to China Airlines' sister company, Mandarin Airlines, on 1 January 1997, and was in daily service for the remainder of that year.[5]

In its final report, the US NTSB stated "The Safety Board can only conclude that the captain was distracted first by the evaluation of the engine malfunction and second by his attempts to arrest the decreasing airspeed, and that, because of these distractions, he was unable to assess properly and promptly the approaching loss of airplane control. The Safety Board also concludes that the captain over-relied on the autopilot and that this was also causal to the accident since the autopilot effectively masked the approaching onset of the loss of control of the airplane."[1] The NTSB report ended with No Recommendations intended to prevent similar problems in the future.

China Airlines still operates one of its scheduled Taipei–Los Angeles services as Dynasty 006, utilizing the Boeing 747-400 until late 2014, when the Boeing 777-300ER replaced it.[6]




References


  1. "Aircraft accident report : China Airlines Boeing 747-SP, N4522V, 300 nautical miles northwest of San Francisco, California, February 19, 1985" (PDF). National Transportation Safety Board. 29 March 1986. NTSB/AAR-86/03. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
  2. "Production List". Boeing 747SP Website. Archived from the original on 4 June 2012. Retrieved 9 February 2015.
  3. Garrison, Peter (October 1986). "Tumbledown Jumbo". Flying.
  4. NTSB Archived 17 December 2005 at the Wayback Machine report courtesy of University of Bielefeld – Faculty of technology html version by Hiroshi Sogame Safety Promotion Comt. All Nippon Airways
  5. "N4522V Global Peace Ambassadors Boeing 747SP". www.planespotters.net. Retrieved 24 December 2020.
  6. "China Airlines (CI) #6 ✈ FlightAware". FlightAware. Retrieved 19 June 2016.
  7. "Panic Over the Pacific". Mayday. Season 4. 2007. Discovery Channel Canada / National Geographic Channel.



На других языках


[de] China-Airlines-Flug 006

Der China-Airlines-Flug 006 (Rufzeichen: Dynasty 006) war ein Nonstop-Flug zwischen Taipeh und Los Angeles, der am 19. Februar 1985 in einen schweren Unfall verwickelt war. Über dem Pazifik, kurz vor der amerikanischen Küste, kam es zu einem Triebwerksausfall, in dessen Folge die Boeing 747SP in einen Sturzflug überging und binnen zwei Minuten etwa zehn Kilometer an Höhe verlor. Das Flugzeug wurde stark beschädigt und zwei Insassen wurden ernsthaft verletzt. Das Flugzeug konnte in San Francisco notlanden.
- [en] China Airlines Flight 006

[fr] Vol China Airlines 006

Le vol China Airlines 006 était un vol entre Taïwan et Los Angeles. Le Boeing 747 qui assurait ce vol le 15 février 1985 a subi une panne moteur, mais les pilotes réussissent à poser l'appareil sur l'aéroport international de San Francisco. Tous les passagers et membres d'équipage ont survécu.

[it] Volo China Airlines 006

Il volo China Airlines 006 era un volo di linea della China Airlines, con partenza da Taipei e arrivo a Los Angeles, che il 19 febbraio 1985 era operato dal Boeing 747SP-09 N4522V. A 550 km dalla costa della California l'aereo ha subito l'arresto del motore quattro, si è capovolto ed è caduto in picchiata per 30.000 ft (9.000 m) prima che i piloti riuscissero a riprendere il controllo ed a effettuare un atterraggio di emergenza all'Aeroporto Internazionale di San Francisco.[1][2]

[ru] Инцидент с Boeing 747 возле Сан-Франциско

Инцидент с Boeing 747 над Тихим океаном — авиационная авария, произошедшая 19 февраля 1985 года. Авиалайнер Boeing 747SP-09 авиакомпании China Airlines выполнял регулярный рейс CI 6 (позывной — Dynasty 006) по маршруту Тайбэй—Лос-Анджелес, когда у него неожиданно отказал двигатель №4 и затем автопилот, после чего самолёт незаметно перешёл в крен, а затем в пикирование. Лайнер потерял свыше 9000 метров высоты, прежде чем командир экипажа сумел вывести его в горизонтальный полёт. В ходе падения экипаж и пассажиры испытали многократную перегрузку, а у самолёта было повреждено хвостовое оперение. Пилоты запросили экстренную посадку и лайнер благополучно приземлился в аэропорту Сан-Франциско. Все находившиеся на его борту 274 человека (251 пассажир и 23 члена экипажа) выжили, 24 из них получили ранения (2 из них — серьёзные).



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