Far Eastern Air Transport Flight 103
| Far Eastern Air Transport Flight 103 | |
|---|---|
 A Boeing 737-200 of the FEAT, similar to the accident machine |
|
| Accident summary | |
| Accident type | Structural failure due to corrosion |
| place | Sanyi , Taiwan |
| date | 22nd August 1981 |
| Fatalities | 110 |
| Survivors | 0 |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | Boeing 737-222 |
| operator | FEAT |
| Mark | B-2603 |
| Departure airport |
 Taipei Songshan Airport
|
| Destination airport |
Kaohsiung Airport
|
| Passengers | 104 |
| crew | 6th |
| Lists of aviation accidents | |
On August 22, 1981, a Boeing 737-200 crashed on Far Eastern Air Transport Flight 103 from Taipei to Kaohsiung . All 110 occupants were killed in the accident.
plane
The Boeing 737 ( registration number : B-2603, c / n : 19939, s / n : 151) made its maiden flight on April 30, 1969 and was delivered to United Air Lines on May 5, 1969 . In April 1976, the Taiwanese Far Eastern Air Transport , FEAT for short , acquired the machine and then used it in scheduled air traffic on short-haul routes within Taiwan . At the time of the accident, the aircraft had made a total of 33,313 take-offs and landings.
the accident
About 14 minutes after take-off from Taipei-Songshan Airport , an explosive decompression occurred on the underside of the aircraft at an altitude of around 6,700 meters . The Boeing 737 then went into an uncontrolled descent and broke in the air. The rubble hit a mountainous region near the village of Sanyi . All 110 inmates were killed, including the Japanese writer Kuniko Mukōda .
| nationality | Passengers | crew | All in all |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Taiwan
|
81 | 6th | 87 |
 Japan
|
18th | - | 18th |
 United States
|
3 | - | 3 |
| unknown | 2 | - | 2 |
| Total: | 104 | 6th | 110 |
Cause of accident
On August 5, 1981, a flight with this machine had to be canceled due to problems with the cabin pressure . On the day of the accident, pressure problems occurred again on board on a scheduled flight from Magong to Taipei. Before the onward flight to Kaohsiung, a repair was carried out in Taipei, whereby the actual cause of the pressure loss remained undetected.
The examination of the wreckage revealed hairline cracks and corrosion damage on various sections of the hull. According to the investigators, these were caused by the intensive use of the machine on short trips and were overlooked during maintenance. An area on the underside of the fuselage that was affected by wear gave way to the cabin pressure during the flight. As a result of the sudden loss of pressure, parts of the cabin floor collapsed and destroyed the control cables and electrical lines running there, as a result of which the crew lost control of the machine.
Similar aviation accidents
- Aloha Airlines Flight 243
- British European Airways Flight 706
- China Airlines Flight 611
- Japan Air Lines flight 123
Individual evidence
- ^ Aviation catastrophes , David Gero, Stuttgart 1994
- ^ AP: Airliner that crashed in Taiwan, killing 110, had pressure snags. In: New York Times. August 23, 1981, accessed March 4, 2015 .
- ↑ Aircraft accident report on Aviation Safety
Web links
- US Experts to probe crash , In: Sarasota Herald-Tribune, August 30, 1981, accessed March 3, 2015
- Airfleets.net
- Spiegel.de