Miraculous Survival: China Airlines Flight 642 Story

This investigation looks at China Airlines flight 642. A Boeing MD 11 which crashes in Hong Kong in stormy conditions. This air disaster does not end how I expected especially when watching the crash video!
Flight 642 was on a two leg trip from Bangkok in Thailand to Taipei in Taiwan with an intermediate stop in Hong Kong. The problem for the crew was that a severe tropical storm was also going to reach Hong Kong as they were.
Source:
Crash video:
• Taiwan China Airlines ...
Final report:
reports.aviation-safety.net/1...
www.cad.gov.hk/reports/main1.pdf

[@katsbreez]

Absolutely amazed that that many people survived! Thought for sure you were going to say massive loss of life due to the doors being upside down and hard to open. Condolenses to the family and friends of the three who didn't make it.

[@bradsanders407]

Upside down on fire with the fuselage broke apart and most if not all buckled in. I'm not sure which would be the hardest to overcome but they are all very high in difficulty. The break up is more luck i guess but to unbuckle yourself upside down in a smoke filled enclosure and not get trampled is very impressive. Probably the most miraculous egress in aviation history. Never would have happened in the states. Half the idiots would be on the ground trying to figure out how to open the once overhead compartment to get their bags.

[@maxinefreeman8858]

​@@bradsanders407..This is the first video that said emergency workers (fire fighters?) entered the plane and helped with the evacuation.

[@marhawkman303]

@@bradsanders407 sometimes when a break up occurs... you just climb out the holes. The key is not burning up....

[@C.Fecteau-AU-MJ13]

Sometimes it's just plain luck... The fact that HK had very good emergency services to hand probably helped a lot though. If it were in mainland China, I doubt the outcome would've been as good.

[@timeforcoffee485]

I know nothing about flying except being a passenger, but your graphics and explanations make it much easier to try and understand what is happening. Plane disasters and near misses will always fascinate people. For all the issues, the pilots did at least get it back on the ground and loss of life was minimal although tragic. Thank you.

[@jimmysmith8231]

A friend of mine was on one of the flights that landed just before this one and they had just entered the terminal when this aircraft crashed. He noted that it was one of the scariest landings in his life - he thought they were going to crash.

[@josh2961]

I can’t even imagine!

[@riccardotumewu123]

Was it a swiss airflight?

[@jamiemayo6839]

I still don’t understand landing in a hurricane 🌀 or cyclone

[@ChabbaD90]

It’s awful that there were fatalities, but I’m amazed how many people survived that! the crew on the ground did an amazing job gaining access so quickly! The pilots clearly did the best they could in horrendous conditions. Thanks again for another great video! :-)

[@josh2961]

I cannot believe the ending of this crash!! After seeing the real footage at the start I thought the shock at the end was 300 lives were lost! The actions of the fire fighters definitely saved lives that day, many, many lives! Absolutely amazing. Thank you for sharing this with us. Fantastic video as always.

[@PelenTan]

Hard to heap too much fault on the pilots for this one. The official report seems to say the same thing. Basically "Yeah, there were things that _could_ have been done better, but it took something like this to point it out."

[@Dutch1982]

They could have gone around like the plane 10 minutes before. The captain basically slammed the plane into the ground and the gear gave out. Don’t force a landing.

[@emmyjj5612]

I came across your channel a few weeks ago, & something that sets you apart from most of the other channels I've seen is the diversity of accidents (incidents?) - it's refreshing when everyone doesn't die! I know that this is to your detriment, since a lot of people who want to see highly dramatic videos full of fatalities may not subscribe, so I really appreciate your continued willingness to create content like this. Also, you do a great job with the writing, and reading, of your scripts!

[@CuriousPilot90]

Thank you, that is great to hear as that is definitely the aim! Not the reduced outreach 👀 but the variety of content that I think still holds a lot of value to learn from. Thanks again. 😁

[@Jens-Viper-Nobel]

I'll buy that any time. And for all those who want a lot of death and destruction, I pity them. Because they are missing the essential part of all these kinds of channels, be it you, @CuriousPilot90 or Mentour Pilot or Disaster Breakdown or..... or..... you get the picture. They are not learning anything from it. Not even when they think they do. Oh. And to you again @CuriousPilot90, You might want to pay close attention and perhaps even contact Disaster Breakdown (her name is Chloe). She is very much in for all varieties of accidents, even those with no injuries at all, but also very much aware of the mental side of it. I think you 2 could influence and promote each other quite a bit if you got together. Just a suggestion of course.

[@swuffy]

One notable fact is that the duty officer of the Airport Fire Contingent at HKG had decided to turn all vehicles within the station towards the South runway when the announcement of the closure of the North runway was heard, which had helped to expedite the emergency response significantly.

[@ChabbaD90]

Also, you’re so close to 50K subscribers!! 🎉 well done, you deserve it! I’ve been here since the start and it’s been great seeing your channel grow, you clearly work so hard and make great content. And It’s been refreshing to see a variety of incidents opposed to the same old ones covered over and over again-keep it up 👍🏻

[@CuriousPilot90]

Thank you very much!

[@NorwayT]

Rough conditions is part of flying in the Arctic. But Typhoons like this must be hell. The SAR Team at VHHH was right out heroic! Fantastic response time. This was a clear TOGA situation. I don't know the baggage handling procedures, but with such a small margin to MLW, it would only takee for a few passengers to have a little bit extra in their hand luggage for the MD-11 to actually have exceeded MLW. Had they gone around, they would have burnt enough fuel to be comfortably under MLW. Important lessons learnt from this accident,

[@CuriousPilot90]

Very true!

[@greenbeenie2]

As an instrument rated pilot, who flies often as "single pilot IFR", I feel that these pilots did a good job, considering ALL the information on weather. JUST MY PERSONAL OPINION....

[@Samuel-gc6js]

Really? The aircraft didn't see stable in the last several seconds

[@pjs232]

Nice, something to listen to while I'm cleaning this afternoon- cheers mate!

[@Randomequestrian-pm4hl]

Great to see Curious Pilot has popped through 50K subscribers - well earned, for clear and concise coverage of some lesser-known accidents and incidents. Also great to find a youtuber in aviation who always succinctly defines the many acronyms for us. Videos are an ideal length, too, and offer a slightly different format from every other aviation youtuber I follow. Thank you for this!

[@KamilDziadkiewicz]

It would be amazing to hear more about emergency cervices on airports!

[@anonymous_hedgehog]

It's rare to hear about airplane accidents that happened in my home city. Feels much more threatening when I'm reminded that plane crashes do happen just an hour's drive away from home! Thanks for sharing this story.

[@davidtaschuk1154]

MD-11 was a handful to flare even in less challenging weather. FedEx crashed two ( that i can remember). Very similar sequence, too. Hit hard, one main collapses, wing rips off, lift from the other wing rolls the aircraft onto its back. Everyone survived the one in Newark, the one in Narita killed both pilots. Both of those started with a bounce, but otherwise almost identical to this crash.

[@prevost8686]

Emergency personnel were certainly on top of their game weren’t they?

[@howardsimpson489]

My family was landing in Wellington NZ in the mid eighties, Air NZ, can't remember the plane, very rough weather, turbulence, crosswinds etc. The sea at the end of the runway had lots of rock outcrops with huge waves breaking. My son had just said Dad we would be dead meat in that stuff when the aircraft was hit by lightning, my wife's grip on my arm just about cut off the blood.. A huge bang followed by a smell of burning then increased throttle and a go around. The pilot announced that we had just been hit somewhere near the cockpit, most systems were okay and we were going to hold in a pattern. After a few minutes confirmation of everything working, we landed uneventfully with all the airport emergency vehicles lined up along the runway, quite a sight. There was a 6 inch blackened hole just aft of the cockpit.

[@SerenDoubleYou]

To see a fireball like that, and then find out there was only 3 casualties, and one of them was days later... Thats increadible.

[@Stumpchunkman226]

Your videos are great. Thanks for all the work you put into them. As a friendly criticism, it would be nice to see more realistic depictions of the airplane in flight. For example, at 15:55, you mention the aircraft being on stable approach, but the video shows the plane banking very steeply left and right. It would really increase the efficacy of the narrative to have realistic depictions of what the airplane was actually doing. Keep up the good work.

[@BkNy02]

I remember that video back in the day at Ebaumsworld. It was probably one of the few early viral videos pre-KZbin. Still amazed people survived that crash.

[@irrationalgeographic9953]

The Commander ( Captain ) flew for Lufthansa before China Airlines. Not a fan of Tri Jets but the MD-11 was / is a tough bird and not surprised by the survival rate, there are a few examples of MD-11s having major accidents on landing and people getting out.

[@chboy80]

Correction required- Bangkok (BKK) was still using Don Muang International Airport back in 1999.

[@ArchToast]

Just found this channel. Great work! Keep going. (liked and subscribed)

[@johnkern7075]

Things can go from good to bad in the blink of an eye.

[@davidsavage6227]

Nice job on this video!

[@CuriousPilot90]

Thanks!

[@landychen9968]

Excellent video! Do you make swissair flight 111?🙏🏻

[@b.t.356]

I, too, did not expect the disaster to end the way that it ended

[@Unbaguettable]

very nice video, well made and easy to understand what’s going on. great work :)

[@michelscotto3900]

thank you very much !! I like your work ))and your very understandable diction 👍👍👍👍👍👍

[@WingWarnings]

Nice coverage❤❤

[@Titot182]

Fantastic recreation of this incident. It does make you appreciate tropical and stormy conditions and the challenges it brings. It doesn't help that the MD11's interesting flight dynamics is compounded in extreme weather conditions.

[@auntbarbara5576]

Thank you Mr Curious. Aunt Barbara adores you! 😘

[@markprinsloo4258]

I didn't know there was a Boeing MD 11. I know MD later merged with Boeing but didn't know there was an actual Boeing MD11.

[@FameyFamous]

Boeing continued to build MD-11s until 2000. The Boeing/MD merger was in 1997.

[@Fenners82]

Thinking the same thing..

[@markprinsloo4258]

@Begeye-bh5ux The poster said,about 15 seconds into the video that the aircraft was a Boeing MD 11.

[@user-oj4xp2lh4d]

Very well narrated.

[@chrisg9627]

Thank you for this video, my heart goes out to this crew, in some respects especially to the cabin crew who did a truly remarkable job. All flight crew are trained for smoke and fire, evacuation procedures and so on, in purpose built facilities, but these are never inverted, what they did on that day is beyond remarkable. For the flight deck scenario, likewise. I have been there myself, and these conditions were borderline. The only difference I have always applied is that unless we were auto-land, the auto throttle and autopilot was disconnected (by me) when visual, and below 500 feet, so I was hands on when the action happened. The MD11 though is a different creature and the pitch stability requires that the auto-throttle remains engaged due to the reduced tail surface area (inherited from the DC10 in bid to increase fuel efficiency.) This, combined with the narrow undercarriage track has caused many hull losses of the MD11 since leaving mainline passenger service. The Tokyo freighter accident being a prime example

[@MrBsbotto]

chris g, thank you SO much for bestowing such first hand descriptions of how it feels to go through a harrowing experience like this! Wow, your technical knowledge is awesome, as is your explanations of the trade-offs necessary to coax such a huge aircraft to the ground. Very much appreciated!

[@CuriousPilot90]

Well put, thanks Chris.

[@crowdpleaser10]

I worked on the engineering project for the then newly opened Chek Lap Kok Airport in Hong Kong for five years. For most of that time I flew in and out of the old Kai Tak Airport (collecting washing off people's balconies) along the way. For a few months I was based in an office in Causeway Bay overlooking the Kai Tak runway and colleagues described how once they had witnessed a plane misjudge its landing and dip its nose in the water. However despite its harem scarem nature which I understand pilots trained specifically for, there were no major incidents at Kai Tak other than that one. Wind the clock forward to 1999 and with the newer supposedly safer airport open barely a year came the first civilian losses of life in an air accident in Hong Kong. I had departed barely three weeks earlier. It was I believe always recognised that siting the new airport in the lee of the mountainous Lantau island might raise the potential for wind shear issues under certain weather conditions. I believe but cannot confirm that the T3 typhoon signal may have been raised at the time.

[@cleot151]

Good presentation.

[@CuriousPilot90]

Thank you!

[@hasithmalika]

23:46 It's an amazing day when you upload a new video!

[@CuriousPilot90]

😁

[@nicolainielsen7700]

It makes you wonder how close the airlines (calculated) passenger weight is to the (actual) weight of the passengers. With the margin of error being about 1‰ in this case, I'd say that there's probably a good non-zero chance that the plane was overweight on landing (though only a little, and the maximum landing weight is probably set a bit conservatively as well). However, the recent Finnair debacle has also shown that actually going around and weighing passengers (even if voluntarily) could be an... unpopular thing to do, to say the least.

[@ukeyaoitrash2618]

Which is why there is a safety margin in those kind of limits. I guarantee you it will not just crash if you are at say 102% maximum weight. A) that will happen sometimes and B) any suboptimal manufacturing or wear and tear or maintenance would cause it too.

[@JupiterTechnology12.000]

Nice Video allot of Details

[@trevorsmith7753]

Italian Captain. In bad weather you go around or divert. Not invert a plane at maximum landing weight. Pick your airline and crew carefully!

[@tiemji]

Wow than ks for the story. It was impressive

[@dex1lsp]

Waypoint Mango is a great band name.

[@jeremydennis6988]

Great work thanks.

[@CuriousPilot90]

Thank you too!

[@mityajamail5246]

I love the simulator, great job

[@Bxu021]

Hong Kong does a really suffer any large storms anymore. Man how’s the times have changed.

[@expatinthailand9824]

You show the plane taking off from Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok. But this airport did not open until 2006. If this incident happened in 1999, then the flight had to originate from Don Muang Airport and not Suvarnabhumi as shown in your graphic.

[@brendamarrerobrugueras2080]

How come they allow planes to flight in such severe conditions? They knew before departure.

[@KingBritish]

I've skipped by your channel many times, didn't realise you was a fellow Brit. Thought you was another one of them boring American channels. Subscribed!

[@232K7]

I have a hard time faulting the captain for not adding thrust at 70ft, falling in windshear, the engines would have spooled too late anyway

[@phillarnach9484]

No doubt that this aircraft needed to go around when the approach became unstable, speed fluctuations, high sink rates. They had plenty of fuel so hard to understand. A couple of points, runway 07left-25right had never been opened at CLK but was due to become operational in the very near future.Because of the accident it opened the next day so the airport could carry on. So why they set up for that runway remains a mystery. That European airline you were searching for could be Alitalia.

[@Av-vd3wk]

Are you using MSFS?

[@VibeWithMine]

As a hongkonger, i was surprised due to VHHH being so new.

[@pop5678eye]

Did the airplane twist in the wind that violently on just approach? If you have been a passenger on any of the aircraft landing that day it must have been one terrifying flight!

[@thomaskoss7477]

This must have been a highly professional job done by the fire department. Great!

[@anthonylivingstone3168]

The identity is said to be B-150 (according to Wikipedia).

[@centerlineav]

boeing md11 is wild😭🙏

[@claymclean5791]

Boeing merged with MD and still produced the MD11 for a while. So it's not incorrect and I've heard it in other videos and interviews. 🤷‍♂️

[@centerlineav]

@@claymclean5791 ik but it still sounds goofy af

[@georgeroberts442]

The basic problem here were minimums that were too low for the actual circumstances. They few into weather that the plane and crew were unable to handle. In essence, they were pitting their plane and skill against Mother Nature, and we all know who the winner is in most of those kind of contests.

[@chrisg9627]

The minimums are the minimums, if they are legal you continue the approach. If any parameter goes out of limits AFTER the final approach fix, you may continue to minima. The reported conditions were legal, but here were type specific issues that were not mentioned here.

[@Stuart.Branson.]

Glad casualties were pretty low but how did the aircraft become upside down ?

[@CuriousPilot90]

I believe because the right wing became detached, the left wing continued to produce lift causing the plane to roll to the right eventually ending up inverted.

[@232K7]

Holy graphics Batman 😅 is this xplane12 with a 4090?

[@vincentrusso4332]

Idk... they had more than enough fuel for several missed approaches.. when in doubt TOGA...

[@cecilma3140]

Why was a Delta and a Continental aircraft at the old BKK?

[@mitseraffej5812]

MD11s seem to have a propensity to flip upside down on landing. A couple of MD11 freighters have ended up this way.

[@akiko009]

China Airlines was having a bit of a bad time with crashes at the time... I'm just surprised how apt those MD11's are to flip over during landing accidents. It seems almost routine for them.

[@Splicer]

👍🏼

[@JONNIE8OY]

The Captain was 57-year-old Gerardo Lettich. (Not Commander)

[@josh2961]

It refers to the Captain as the commander in the final report. Whatever his title, he seemed all over it apart from the lack of thrust in the windshear. Although easier said than done!

[@stephenbritton9297]

I’m old… I remember it clearly on the news.

[@guyseeten2755]

5:58 Why do companies have their own limits like the company crosswind limit instead of using a manufacturer's limit for the airplane, that should be the same for whoever owns and flies the plane?

[@JamesJones-yj8ku]

The lesson learned here is not to fly in a typhoon.

[@xaviernoche4337]

I believe the commander used to work for Alitalia

[@vincentrusso4332]

I was led here after seeing the crash from a Australian family's car on IG.

[@CuriousPilot90]

It was that video that caused me to research the incident!

[@robotswithgunzlol]

Outside of the maximum allowable crosswind, in a plane known to flip over, in bad weather, at night? If only there was something the pilots could have done to go around the airport and try again.

[@MrCelloman999]

Unlike with many of the crash anlyses that I have seen, I don’t think the pilots made any massive predictable errors here. It seems like this incident was mostly due to a combination of terrible circumstances rather than pilot negligence or lack of skill.

[@GeneralGayJay]

Why do planes fly into storms..

[@truthseeker474]

Why are the air hostess looking for torchlights at moment of crash landing ?. Surely all air crew should carry mini but powerful torchlights on their clothes - even bandages !

[@Master-it8eo]

Hello man please reply me. Please do a video about Air India flight crash at Kozhikode airport, Kerala

[@davidwhitehouse9665]

Love all your content! Super Hugs and Love Friend. Be Well All.

[@Subtotureair]

What’s game?

[@jbstepchild]

@10000 hours your a pro there is no mistake in that

[@vorakitlertackakorn2827]

Suvannabhumi Airport doesn't exist yet.

[@mansoormannix1753]

Why do I have no faith in McDonald Douglas/ DC modes?

[@JupiterTechnology12.000]

I was born in 1998

[@francisigooch5269]

Boeing MD11 ?????????

[@djmech3871]

The Captain was Italian so I’m assuming he flew for Alitalia.

[@Desperado070]

2:25 , is this GTA 6 ?

[@user-jy9px8ed5q]

Typical DC-10 and variants crash where the slightest mishap causes a wing to break off and flip the aircraft over so it comes to a stop inverted. Happens every time! Glad this engineering disaster of an aircraft is no longer carrying passengers.

[@tonylam9548]

But the USAF still have a whole fleet of such tankers. The air force have a habit of keeping some of their planes a long time.

[@user-xu8ke4br1o]

Boeing MD 11 🤨

[@Britishairways737.]

1:10 Sam is my name 😂😂😂

[@donaldpetersen2382]

Pilots did great despite not knowing their left from their right. Do Chinese planes have cockpit voice recorders? I imagine the transcript would have been an interesting read.

[@ermesdalponte9701]

Why you have to flight with all the wheather condition?

[@MS-vb6sy]

Exactly, airlines mostly cancel flights in case of such extreme weather conditions.

[@Douglasdc-8]

“Boeing md-11”💀💀💀

[@justonsullivan3807]

Who ever is flying that plane in that Simulator game is not very good.

[@Derek-Barbosa]

I think the plane was just too heavy. Wheel broke!

[@Mintaviation]

0:38 BOEING MD11??????

[@LuchinoBruttomesso]

Yes? It’s still a correct way to call it since McDonell Douglas didn’t exist when the crash happened (also if you look at the MD-11s of Eva air,you would see they also say Boeing MD-11)

[@bigballz4u]

@@LuchinoBruttomesso Boeing never made this aircraft. It makes no sense to give the impression that the maker of the aircraft was Boeing when they had no part in making it.

[@LuchinoBruttomesso]

@@bigballz4uAfter the 1996 merger of MD and Boeing,The MD-11 got the Boeing name simply because MD didn’t exist anymore so it’s a correct way to say Boeing MD-11 if it’s after 1996

[@ronduncan9527]

15:45-16:00 that is definitely not stable! A little over exaggerated!

[@ffwrude]

At 16minutes did you overdo the MFS part cause it seems the plane was banking a LOT

[@Cnicbr]

It is X plane12

[@scrimblenib]

The crew would have passed out if I'd have been on the flight as i would have "shit me sen" and the odour of the previous nights chicken vindaloo would have took everyone out 😮

[@MrBsbotto]

Too much info, my friend!

[@felineflixie]

Md 11 was don't my McDonnell Douglas not Boeing Nvm I stand corrected. But I don't think it gets called a Boeing md115

[@alansuper3]

The map one is wrong as that flight taking off at the time was the DMK airport nowadays (the BKK airport nowadays was still not yet opened at the time of this flight), but the animations are correct as those are drawn following the DMK airport.

[@grahamw56]

So which idiots continued to permit landings in such obviously dangerous conditions ? Oh sorry, I forgot. It's all about the money. Fly to somewhere SAFE ! Put that in the report.