Bloomberg: China Airlines Boeing Plane Catches Fire in Japan

[milehighj]

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p...0io&refer=home

Aug. 20 (Bloomberg) -- A China Airlines plane with 155 passengers on board caught fire at Naha airport in Okinawa, said NHK, a state-owned television network. The passengers were evacuated safely, according to Nippon Television.

The left engine of the Boeing Co. 737 caught fire, according to NHK. The plane, flight 120, left Taipei at 8:15 a.m., NHK said. Flames and smoke could be seen coming from the aircraft's broken fuselage, with the nose resting on its side. Firefighters extinguished the blaze by spraying foam. An evacuation slide was deployed from the aircraft's right side.

[singaporu_kooku]

Read this ninemsn.com.au and apparently it was caused by an explosion, although it's still not clear what caused it.

[Greatfox]

looks like something to do with one of the engines, given China Airlines' maintainance record

[KeithMEL]

A video of said incident can be viewed here.

[YK@HKG]

Yup...was about to post the news here...but u beat me to it

I WILL NEVER board any China Airlines flight...with their atrocious safety records. However, they do have the cheapest flights available to either SIN or CGK (ex-HKG).

[taipeiflyer]

i'm just thankful no one was injured. china airways really needs to get their act together- you can't just keep trying to cut costs at the expense of lives.

[up and away]

Well, it was pretty quiet for the last few years... but this one was once again a close call. I saw a vid where you could see an explosion in the plane seconds after the last person left.

[MegatopLover]

The bloomberg story linked above has been updated. Of note, Southwest had a vaguely similar-sounding problem with the same model engine on one of its 737's.

I had thought that CI's management revamp had brought a change in corporate culture when it comes to maintenance, command issues, and overall flight safety. I've defended CI on that point. Mr. Megatop has flown them, and so have I. On one trip recently, I felt reassured when the Captain refused to take off because of a fault in an engine. We were delayed about an hour until it could be fixed. My only complaint was the lack of clear information from the cockpit about the reason for the delay.

I won't prejudge the cause of this crash or be too quick to assess blame. But I will confess that I have a slightly heightened sense of nervousness over my upcoming CI flight LAX-TPE-vv., and Mr. Megatop's corresponding CI flights BKK-TPE-vv.

[WSSS]

The last crash was in 2002, CI611 from TPE to HKG. It has a notorious record for many air crashes, and major incidents. Its terrible air safety record puts me off, and I will never to fly China Airlines ever in my life, even if I am broke.

[jhm]

A shame really as their service was rather good in my only flights with them (a trip in Y from SIN to HKG a number of years ago I think). From what I remember, the FAs spent most of the flight passing around attending to the pax comfort rather than (say) hiding in the galley. Attractive eye candy as well!

Whilst I'd think twice before booking another of their flights, I wouldn't say that I'd never fly with them again. Life is all about taking acceptable risks (such as sitting in a car or crossing the road) and if the price and/or schedule with CI is right, why not ?

[SQFAN]

Have a look here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China_Airlines especially the 'Incidents and accidents' section. Gosh, the airline record is 4x the industry average.

[Dynasty]

OH!!!!!OH!!!!!!!OH!!!!!!!!!! MY GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! MY FAVOURITE AIRLINE, ROC FLAG CARRIER CHINA AIRLINES GOT AN ENORMOUS EXPLOSION IN JAPAN!!!!!!!!!!

Once I heard that news, I felt very very sad!!!!!!!

Actually, also from the Taiwanese media, it said CI has just approved by ICAO as one of the safetest airlines several months ago, which the cost of this airline's insurance can be reduced. But so so so unlucky for today's disastrous incident happends, I think its insurance will be increased certainly in the future.

For myself, I will still continue and enthusiastic to choose CI as one of my frequent flying partner. Except those unlucky events, CI's ground and air service, efficiency, crews' working attitude and entusiastism and also its fleet age is still excellent, better than many many airlines. I think today's case is just a special, exceptional case,an unexpected mechanical failure.Remember that Jesus' apprentice Judas has made a mistake also, no one will get perfect except you're God!

So, I still trust the Taiwanese's prudent working attitude(Remember,Taiwan is still one of the Asian 4 little dragons') , I still trust China Airlines, I still choose CI, coz its really gave me a very excellent cabin service and impression during the time I travel with her. I still proud to be a member of its loyalty program-Dynasty Flyer!!! I still love CI!!!!!

[Dynasty]

Life is all about taking acceptable risks (such as sitting in a car or crossing the road)

Totally, certainly, absoutely agree! Life is a game, is a drama,eveything are not under our control.

I think how we choose an airline to travel is that we should mostly consider its service and if it makes you feel comfortable. The most memorable 2 are that the world safetest SQ eventually crashed in Taipei, many has died, also Swissair has lost its MD11 in NY, all passengers dead. Safety is just a myth, I believe!!!!

[jhm]

the world safetest SQ eventually crashed in Taipei

I'm not sure where you get this statistic. Whilst SQ are a very safe airline (even after the TPE incident), there are many other major airlines which - as far as I know - haven't had a crash in over 25 years, e.g. NZ, NH, CX, AY and QF.

[SQboy]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ym9wGLYP8Ok
a more complete video.
Initially, you still can note pax evacuating from the slide. Then there came the explosion. If you zoom in a little bit, you can see the pilots falling down from the window of cockpit upon the explosion.
--
Im just about to board on CI's flight in few hrs.. and it's just my first time on CI..