SF Gate: A China Airlines flight to Hong Kong crashes in the Taiwan Strait; no survivors found

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Saturday, May 25, 2002 (AP)
A China Airlines flight to Hong Kong crashes in the Taiwan Strait; no survi=
vors found
WILLIAM IDE, Associated Press Writer


   (05-25) 16:19 PDT PENGHU, Taiwan (AP) --
   A Boeing 747-200 that China Airlines planned to retire next month crashed
Saturday in the Taiwan Strait as it was flying 225 people to Hong Kong. No
survivors were immediately found, and the airline said about 100 bodies
were spotted floating in the choppy waters.
   The pilots of Flight CI611 sent no distress signals before the plane
dropped off radar screens about 20 minutes after taking off in clear
weather at Taipei's international airport, said James L.S. Chang, a China
Airlines vice president.
   "Communications had been normal," Chang said. "The light spot suddenly
disappeared from radar."
   The jetliner went down about 20 nautical miles northeast of the Penghu
island chain, about 170 miles southwest of Taipei, said Chang Chia-chu, a
vice transportation minister. Penghu, also known as the Pescadores, is
about 30 miles off Taiwan's western coast.
   Rough seas Sunday morning hindered the search for bodies, and the plane
had yet to be found. Coast guard ships and helicopters had searched
through the night, firing red flares into the sky to illuminate the area.
   Losing the plane is a serious blow for China Airlines, which is trying to
shed a reputation for being one of the world's most dangerous airlines. In
the past five years, Taiwan's largest carrier has been aggressively
retraining pilots and revamping its safety procedures.
   There were early suspicions that the plane might have exploded in flight
because farmers in the west coast county of Changhua -- near the plane's
flight path -- were finding scraps of airline magazines, immigration forms
and other papers with China Airlines stickers or labels on them. TVBS
cable news showed officials wading into rice fields with flashlights
collecting the bits of paper and putting them in plastic bags.
   But China Airlines executive Chang said that so far there were was no ha=
rd
evidence of an in-flight explosion. "We need to find witnesses. We
received no signs showing it," he said.
   Seven bodies were recovered and about 100 others were spotted floating, =
he
said.
   The jetliner was carrying 206 passengers and 19 crew, said Wang Cheng-yu,
an official with China Airlines. Most of the passengers were Taiwanese,
but the passenger list also included one Singaporean, five people from
Hong Kong, nine from China and a Swiss citizen.
   The plane was flying at 35,000 feet when it went missing, said Chang
Chia-chu, a vice transportation minister.
   Fog and darkness hindered the search efforts of coast guard ships and
fishing boats that usually trawl the strait for squid. Scores of soldiers
wearing surgical masks and stacking olive green body bags waited for
bodies to be brought to the island chain's northern port.
   Dr. Terence Tsai, a Department of Health official managing the operation,
doubted that more bodies would be found Saturday night.
   "The lack of visibility and darkness is making it difficult to search,"
said Tsai, adding that about two-thirds of the rescuers were sent home so
that they could return rested early Sunday morning.
   At Taipei's airport, some victims' families suspected that the crash was
caused by the plane's age. The airline had been using the Boeing 747-200
for 22 years.
   "Why did they put this old plane in service? Did they want people to die=
?"
asked El-Hinn Ibrahim, who had two sisters-in-law and one brother-in-law
on the flight.
   James L.S. Chang told reporters that China Airlines planned to take the
plane out of service next month. The plane had a major overhaul last year
and was a safe aircraft, he said.
   Larry McCracken, vice president of public relations for Boeing, said the
age of the plane would not be a factor by itself.
   "Life spans are 30-40 years," he said. "It depends on how much they're
used and how they're maintained.
   "There are 707s and DC-8s flying around that were built in the 50s," he
said.
   At an air base near Penghu's northern port, troops wearing rubber gloves
rushed to transform a gymnasium into a huge morgue. They folded about 100
blue wool blankets, creating beds for bodies. A group of 12 Buddhist monks
stood by mumbling funeral chants.
   The families and friends of about 90 victims were flown to Penghu on
Saturday night. They gathered at Taipei's airport, sobbing, hugging each
other and checking the airline's passenger list for names of friends and
family.
   A woman who would only give her surname, Chien, said her 36-year-old
brother, Chien Lien-chin, was flying to Hong Kong for business when the
plane crashed.
   "He's still young and not married," she said.
   China Airlines has had 12 deadly accidents since 1969. The last fatal
China Airlines accident was in 1999 when a jetliner flipped over and burst
into flames during a crash landing in Hong Kong, killing three people.
   David Fei, the general manager for China Airlines in Hong Kong, told
reporters that the carrier was working hard to become safer.
   "We have already tried our best to improve our safety record," Fei said.
"The safety record has already been our top priority."

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Copyright 2002 AP

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