Typhoon landing

Typhoons are not uncommon in East Asia. 1999 turned out to be rich in these natural phenomena. About 35 typhoons and tropical storms regularly ravaged the East Asian coast from January to December.

Typhoon Sam was one of the most serious and destructive. It hit Hong Kong on the night of 22 August. Heavy rain and gusts of wind, reaching 38 metre per second, caused landslides, floods and damage to urban infrastructure.

On August 22 at 18.43, the typhoon was still about 50 km from Hong Kong. But the wind was already getting stronger. At this point, the wide-body McDonnell Douglas MD-11 of China Airlines was landing at Hong Kong International Airport. The aircraft operated flight 642 on the Bangkok-Taipei route with a stopover in Hong Kong. According to the information received from the ground, the meteorological indicators were within normal limits. Therefore, the crew made a decision to land.

However, during the landing, the plane hit hard on the runway, turned over and caught fire. Thanks to the pouring rain and the prompt actions of the emergency services, the fire was quickly extinguished. Witnesses who were in the car not far from the airport filmed the landing on camera.

It's hard to believe that out of 315 people on board, only three died.

The investigation was complicated by the lack of data from the flight recorder, which was severely damaged by the impact. As a result, it was not possible to accurately restore the last minutes of the landing approach.

According to the official report, the pilot error was the main version. Despite the warning about worsening weather conditions, the pilots decided to land. When approaching the runway, they exceeded the vertical speed (the rate of descent upon landing was about 6 m/s). As a result, the plane first touched the runway with the right landing gear, sagged, and engine number 3 hit the runway. Due to the impact, the right wing separated from the fuselage, and the aircraft itself turned over on the lift of the left wing and caught fire.

Gusty winds were named as another possible reason, as well as the large mass of the aircraft due to the fuel supply. The pilots were aware of worsening weather conditions and, in case of impossibility of landing, planned to leave for an alternate airfield in Taipei. Therefore, they were filled to the brim.

Based on the results of the airline's investigation, several suggestions were given to China Airlines concerning its training for flights in difficult weather conditions and in conditions of strong wind gusts.