--Boundary_(ID_FEOiwo4kDFDLQlNPWbG+2g) Content-type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed Content-transfer-encoding: quoted-printable > Impressive! > What was the story behind the crash? Ex., what hit the ground and=20 > caused > the explosion, etc.? > David I played it by hand forward and backwards, watch the right wing light,=20= it drops, bounces up and the flames begin...so my guess is #3 engine=20 struck the runway. Here's some info I found on the net. Mike Here's a 2 minute BBC report on it. A passenger on board said the fire=20= began when the right wing sheared off. http://news.bbc.co.uk/olmedia/425000/video/_428043_matt_frei_vi.ram The reporter said the typhoon might have caused the crash, but the=20 torrential rains may have suppressed the fire enabling so many to live. from http://www.airsafe.com/events/airlines/taiwan.htm 22 August 1999; China Airlines MD11; Hong Kong, China: The aircraft was=20= landing in Hong Kong at night and during a storm after a flight from=20 Bangkok. The aircraft struck the runway and came to rest upside down=20 and on fire. All 15 crew members survived, but three of the 300=20 passengers were killed. http://digilander.libero.it/Migliola/HONGKONG.htm Crashed Taiwan airliner tried to land in high winds August 23, 1999 Web posted at: 10:21 a.m. EDT (1421 GMT) HONG KONG -- Investigators in Hong Kong focused Monday on wind shear as=20= a possible reason why a China Airlines jet flipped over and crashed=20 into flames while landing in Hong Kong, killing two people. Sixty people remained hospitalized late Monday following the Sunday=20 crash of a plane from Taiwan's national airline. In addition to a=20 Portuguese woman and a Taiwanese man who were killed, 212 were injured=20= in an accident described by passengers as a horrific scene of fuel,=20 fire and chaos.=A0 Aviation officials said windshear -- a radical change in wind direction=20= or speed -- should be investigated as a possible cause of the crash.=20 Some questioned the pilot's decision to land in the midst of Typhoon=20 Sam, which shut down ferries, most buses and some roads in Hong Kong. The plane's Italian captain and its other flight crew have undergone=20 preliminary interviews. Officials denied that the location of Hong Kong's airport helped cause=20= the accident. Aviation experts have voiced concerns that the multi- billion-dollar=20 Chek Lap Kok airport's location near 1,000-meter (3,300-foot) peaks on=20= adjacent Lantau island could be prone to wind shear when air rushes=20 over the peaks. Strong cross-winds were buffeting the landing path, but they were=20 blowing in from the northwest across the Pearl River Estuary -- not=20 over the spine of Lantau island, C.Y. Lan, acting director of the Hong=20= Kong Observatory told a news conference.=A0 Weather had been a concern even before the flight left Bangkok, but the=20= winds appeared to have calmed around Hong Kong, so the pilot decided to=20= land, Taiwanese officials said.=A0 Survivors describe crash The Hong Kong government said 60 people were still hospitalized on=20 Monday. Two were in critical condition and six in serious condition.=20 The others were in stable or satisfactory condition. Survivors said stunned passengers, some burned, screamed as they freed=20= themselves from their seats and made their way out onto a runway=20 drenched with jet fuel. They had to jump out of the doors because the=20 emergency evacuation slides were useless with the jet upside down, its=20= landing gear pointing to the sky. "I was confused when the plane landed upside down. I didn't know which=20= part was the front or the back of the plane," said Ricardo Andrade, a=20 20-year-old university student from Santarem, Portugal. "People were burning -- their legs, arms, face," said Isabel Coelho,=20 58, a nurse from Lisbon, wearing a T-shirt bearing the Hong Kong=20 airport's logo and wrapped in a hotel bathrobe=A0 The Lusa Portuguese national news agency in Macau said 23 Portuguese=20 were among the injured. There were 315 people on board the plane.=20= --Boundary_(ID_FEOiwo4kDFDLQlNPWbG+2g) Content-type: text/enriched; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-transfer-encoding: quoted-printable <excerpt>Impressive! What was the story behind the crash? Ex., what hit the ground and caused the explosion, etc.? David </excerpt> I played it by hand forward and backwards, watch the right wing light, it drops, bounces up and the flames begin...so my guess is #3 engine struck the runway. Here's some info I found on the net. Mike Here's a 2 minute BBC report on it. A passenger on board said the fire began when the right wing sheared off. = <underline><color><param>1998,1998,FFFE</param>http://news.bbc.co.uk/olmed= ia/425000/video/_428043_matt_frei_vi.ram</color></underline> The reporter said the typhoon might have caused the crash, but the torrential rains may have suppressed the fire enabling so many to live. from = <underline><color><param>1998,1998,FFFE</param>http://www.airsafe.com/even= ts/airlines/taiwan.htm</color></underline> <bold><fontfamily><param>Times New Roman</param>22 August 1999; China Airlines MD11; Hong Kong, China:</fontfamily></bold><fontfamily><param>Times New Roman</param> The aircraft was landing in Hong Kong at night and during a storm after a flight from Bangkok. The aircraft struck the runway and came to rest upside down and on fire. All 15 crew members survived, but three of the 300 passengers were killed.=20 = <underline><color><param>1998,1998,FFFE</param>http://digilander.libero.it= /Migliola/HONGKONG.htm</color></underline> = </fontfamily><bold><bigger><bigger><bigger><bigger><bigger><bigger><bigger= ><bigger><bigger><bigger>Crashed Taiwan airliner tried to land in high = winds</bigger></bigger></bigger></bigger></bigger></bigger></bigger></bigg= er></bigger></bigger></bold><fontfamily><param>Times New = Roman</param><bigger><bigger> = </bigger></bigger></fontfamily><bold><italic><fontfamily><param>Verdana</p= aram><color><param>3331,3331,3331</param><smaller>August 23, = 1999</smaller></color></fontfamily></italic></bold><fontfamily><param>Time= s New Roman</param><bigger><bigger>=20 = </bigger></bigger></fontfamily><italic><fontfamily><param>Verdana</param><= color><param>3331,3331,3331</param><smaller>Web posted at: 10:21 a.m. EDT (1421 GMT)</smaller></color></fontfamily></italic><fontfamily><param>Times New = Roman</param><bigger><bigger>=20 <underline><color><param>0000,0000,9997</param>HONG KONG</color></underline> -- Investigators in Hong Kong focused Monday on wind shear as a possible reason why a China Airlines jet flipped over and crashed into flames while landing in Hong Kong, killing two people.=20 Sixty people remained hospitalized late Monday following the Sunday crash of a plane from Taiwan's national airline. In addition to a Portuguese woman and a Taiwanese man who were killed, 212 were injured in an accident described by passengers as a horrific scene of fuel, fire and chaos.=A0=20 Aviation officials said windshear -- a radical change in wind direction or speed -- should be investigated as a possible cause of the crash. Some questioned the pilot's decision to land in the midst of Typhoon Sam, which shut down ferries, most buses and some roads in Hong Kong.=20 The plane's Italian captain and its other flight crew have undergone preliminary interviews.=20 Officials denied that the location of Hong Kong's airport helped cause the accident.=20 Aviation experts have voiced concerns that the multi- billion-dollar Chek Lap Kok airport's location near 1,000-meter (3,300-foot) peaks on adjacent Lantau island could be prone to wind shear when air rushes over the peaks.=20 Strong cross-winds were buffeting the landing path, but they were blowing in from the northwest across the Pearl River Estuary -- not over the spine of Lantau island, C.Y. Lan, acting director of the Hong Kong Observatory told a news conference.=A0=20 Weather had been a concern even before the flight left Bangkok, but the winds appeared to have calmed around Hong Kong, so the pilot decided to land, Taiwanese officials said.=A0=20 </bigger></bigger></fontfamily><bold><bigger><bigger><bigger>Survivors describe crash</bigger></bigger></bigger></bold><fontfamily><param>Times = New Roman</param><bigger><bigger> The Hong Kong government said 60 people were still hospitalized on Monday. Two were in critical condition and six in serious condition. The others were in stable or satisfactory condition.=20 Survivors said stunned passengers, some burned, screamed as they freed themselves from their seats and made their way out onto a runway drenched with jet fuel. They had to jump out of the doors because the emergency evacuation slides were useless with the jet upside down, its landing gear pointing to the sky.=20 "I was confused when the plane landed upside down. I didn't know which part was the front or the back of the plane," said Ricardo Andrade, a 20-year-old university student from Santarem, Portugal.=20 "People were burning -- their legs, arms, face," said Isabel Coelho, 58, a nurse from Lisbon, wearing a T-shirt bearing the Hong Kong airport's logo and wrapped in a hotel bathrobe=A0=20 The Lusa Portuguese national news agency in Macau said 23 Portuguese were among the injured. There were 315 people on board the plane. = </bigger></bigger></fontfamily>= --Boundary_(ID_FEOiwo4kDFDLQlNPWbG+2g)--