China Airlines Flight 358

China Airlines Cargo Flight 358

B-198, the aircraft involved, seen at Los Angeles International Airport in 1990.
Accident
Date	29 December 1991
Summary	Engine detachment due to improper maintenance
Site	Wanli, Taiwan
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Boeing 747-2R7F/SCD
Operator	China Airlines Cargo
IATA flight No.	CI358
ICAO flight No.	CAL358
Call sign	DYNASTY 358
Registration	B-198
Flight origin	Chiang Kai-shek Int'l Airport Taipei, Taiwan
Destination	Anchorage International Airport Anchorage, Alaska, United States
Occupants	5
Passengers	0
Crew	5
Fatalities	5
Survivors	0

China Airlines Flight 358 was a Boeing 747-2R7F/SCD freighter that crashed on December 29, 1991, shortly after takeoff from Chiang Kai-shek International Airport near Taipei, Taiwan. All 5 crew members were killed.

Aircraft

The aircraft was a Boeing 747-2R7F/SCD, built in September 1980 for Cargolux as the City of Esch-sur-Alzette, registration LX-ECV, MSN 22390. It was acquired by China Airlines in June 1985 was given its registration of B-198. It had been in service for 11 years, 3 months. The aircraft had clocked a total of 45,868 hours of flight time during its time in service. The last A-check maintenance had occurred on 21 December 1991, and the aircraft had accumulated 74 hours of flight time since that point.

The aircraft was the same one involved in the China Airlines Flight 334 hijacking on 3 May 1986.

Accident

Several minutes after takeoff, the crew reported problems with the #2 engine, prompting Taipei air traffic control (ATC) to vector the flight into a left turn to return to the airport. Approximately two minutes later, the crew reported that they were unable to turn left, and ATC approved a right-hand turn instead. This was the last radio contact made by the crew. The crew lost control of the aircraft and it struck a hill, right wing first, near Wanli, Taipei. The crash occurred at approximately 3:05 p.m, at an altitude of 700 feet (210 m). All five crew members died in the crash, and there were no injuries on the ground.

Investigation

The subsequent investigation revealed that the number 3 engine and its pylon had separated from the aircraft and struck the number 4 engine, breaking it off the wing as well. A more detailed investigation revealed that the pylon midspar fittings, which attach the pylon to the lower portion of the wing front spar, had failed. The search for the number 3 engine and its pylon, which landed in the sea, took several months.

Information from the investigation of this crash and the nearly identical crash of El Al Flight 1862 ten months later resulted in Boeing ordering pylon modifications to every 747 in use.