Far Eastern Air Transport Flight 103
 | The English used in this article or section may not be easy for everybody to understand. (December 2022) |
 B-2603, the aircraft involved in the accident | |
| Accident | |
|---|---|
| Date | August 22, 1981 |
| Summary | Explosive decompression |
| Site | near Miaoli County |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | Boeing 737-200 |
| Operator | Far Eastern Air Transport |
| Registration | B-2603 |
| Flight origin | Taipei Songshan Airport |
| Destination | Kaohsiung International Airport |
| Passengers | 104 |
| Crew | 6 |
| Fatalities | 110 |
| Survivors | 0 |
Far East Air Transport Flight 103, a Boeing 737-200, registration B-2603, departed Taipei Songshan Airport for Kaohsiung on 22 August 1981. The aircraft suffered an explosive decompression fourteen minutes after takeoff and disintegrated.[1]
Summary[change | change source]
The aircraft had previously lost cabin pressure on 5 August; and earlier on the day of the crash it had departed Songshan Airport but the crew aborted the flight ten minutes later for the same reason. After repairs were made the aircraft departed Songshan Airport again and broke up shortly afterward.
Cause[change | change source]
Although there was early speculation that the crash was caused by a bomb, an investigation by the Republic of China Civil Aeronautics Board concluded that severe corrosion led to a pressure hull rupture. The severe corrosion was due to the many pressurization flight cycles the aircraft had experienced, and that cracks produced were probably undetected.[1]
The wreckage was scattered across an area of 4 miles (6 km) located some 94 miles (151 km) south of Taipei. All 110 people onboard (110 passengers and crew, including eighteen Japanese citizens (among them Kuniko Mukōda)[2] and two Americans) died.[3] The accident was Taiwan's worst air disaster at the time, but is now the second-worst, behind China Airlines Flight 676.
Related pages[change | change source]
References[change | change source]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident Boeing 737-222 B-2603 Miao-Li". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 2018-07-24.
- ↑ "AIRLINER THAT CRASHED IN TAIWAN, KILLING 110, HAD PRESSURE SNAGS." Associated Press at The New York Times. Sunday 23 August 1981. Late City Final Edition, Section 1, Page 3, Column 1. Retrieved on 6 January 2012.
- ↑ "U.S. Experts to Probe Crash." Associated Press at the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Sunday 30 August 1981. 3A. Retrieved on 6 January 2012.
- UK CAA Document CAA 429 World Airline Accident Summary (ICAO Summary 4/76)
Other websites[change | change source]
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