View Full Version : China Airlines Airplane Exploded at Naha Airport
If anybody has been watching the news on Japanese TV at around 10:30 AM local time today August 20th a China Airlines 737 airplane while on the ground had an explosion of some type and is still burning fierecly as I write this.
Fortunately there were zero passengers on board at the time, as the flight originating from Taipei came in around 8:30 or so, however the status of the three pilots is currently unknown.
Brett23iu
08-20-2007, 11:04 AM
is it on the internet anywhere or just on TV
is it on the internet anywhere or just on TV
RBC TV in Okinawa, havent checked about the internet. There has been live footage of the plane burning. Just checked it's on NHK as well.
DougP
08-20-2007, 11:12 AM
OMMFG!! watching it right now
OMMFG!! watching it right now
According to the news right now it appears that the fire started from one of the engines, but they are not 100% sure about that yet.
DougP
08-20-2007, 11:17 AM
or if all of the crew made it out :(
DougP
08-20-2007, 11:19 AM
firemen are searching the plane now
DoctorP
08-20-2007, 12:17 PM
I think they said 4 of the 8 crew are still inside. All 150 of the passengers made it out safely.
Scary!!! Please post any web links you find.
IndyGal
08-20-2007, 12:21 PM
Yeah, just heard about this for the first time from my husband who is in the states!
http://www.japantoday.com/jp/news/415611
http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/national/news/20070820p2a00m0na001000c.html
DoctorP
08-20-2007, 12:23 PM
Typical Japanese response from my wife: "It was a Taiwanese flight, not a Japanese plane." Like that had any relevance to anything! (or maybe she said Chinese, I only listen to her half the time!)
Yeah, my friend in NY just heard about this...
socalheart
08-20-2007, 12:52 PM
we don't get Japanese TV, but I found these:
http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=apJQDhvaRl0M
http://news.monstersandcritics.com/asiapacific/news/article_1345074.php/China_Airlines_plane_catches_fire_at_Okinawa_airpo rt__1st_Lead_
http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/national/news/20070820p2a00m0na001000c.html
YouTube - ļ¼”irplane blazed up in the Naha airport in Japan 2007 8/20
thistle
08-20-2007, 01:07 PM
The crew jumped out of the window, it said on the news.
China airlines have the worst safety record in the world, though I have
flown them many a time. They are well known for their delays, and a couple
of times I had hour long delays while they checked their engine's.
Sure there will be an influx of cancellation's coming in in the next few days.
Thing I hate about air crashes, is that they always come in two's or three's.
TheNoNamedOne
08-20-2007, 03:07 PM
Crickey!
When we go back to the States, I always eye the cheaper tickets going through China Airlines to Taipei first, but my wife always refuses to go that route using China Airlines. Now I am on her side about that.
Horrible! But lucky no one was on board.
Crickey!
When we go back to the States, I always eye the cheaper tickets going through China Airlines to Taipei first, but my wife always refuses to go that route using China Airlines. Now I am on her side about that.
Horrible! But lucky no one was on board.
My parents always did/do that too when I was growing up under their household. They liked the cheaper tickets. I hated the wasted time spent in airports traveling BACKWARDS. Sure, it might save you some money, but I value my time!
http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/08/20/japan.plane/index.html?eref=rss_topstories
This incident is the latest in a series of accidents involving China Airlines (http://topics.cnn.com/topics/china_airlines_ltd). Jetliners for the air carrier crashed in 2002, 1999, 1998 and 1994, killing more than 1,000 people.
Good lord...
TheNoNamedOne
08-20-2007, 04:03 PM
Just hearing that makes my fear of flying even worse. It seems to not help much either that I never use China Airlines. I just see it all as one big generic category of planes falling from skies or crashing on arrivals and departures.
Makes me sweat thinking about it.
I am assuming the plane was MADE IN CHINA,is another execution on the way!?
Seriously though I hope everyone made it out alive!
Well, and I know you were joking here, but it was a Boeing 737.
socalheart
08-20-2007, 05:14 PM
... or parts made in China, assembled in the USA, and with customer service operators standing by in India! :D
P_chan
08-20-2007, 05:39 PM
http://img440.imageshack.us/img440/3851/07082010390001zi8.jpg
That was the view from where my wife works in naha.
It cracks me up that a plane crashes and all of a sudden people are scared to fly. Flying is still the safest way to travel! Accidents happen!
http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/08/20/japan.plane/index.html?eref=rss_topstories
This incident is the latest in a series of accidents involving China Airlines (http://topics.cnn.com/topics/china_airlines_ltd). Jetliners for the air carrier crashed in 2002, 1999, 1998 and 1994, killing more than 1,000 people.Good lord...
Pchan, I'll walk.:dead:
1000 people in the past 13 years by the same company. lol. I wish my customers were that forgiving. I'll still fly lol. But I'm pretty sure I'm done with that airline after learning this little tidbit of information.
Wonder how many people JAL and Northwest have killed off in the past 13 years. Anyone know?
IndyGal
08-20-2007, 05:53 PM
Flying is still the safest way to travel! Accidents happen!
Yeah, when you think about how many flights go on a daily basis and all is well. It is still scary when you hear about the accidents though. :eek:
socalheart
08-20-2007, 05:58 PM
Uhm, did they offloaded the luggage before the plane went up in flames?
Yeah, when you think about how many flights go on a daily basis and all is well. It is still scary when you hear about the accidents though.
I agree, and this time it's a bit closer to home and not "somewhere else"
For me I think it has something to do with a persons lack of freedom on an airplane and the trust that we give to the airline companies themselves that makes people leary at times about flying.
If man was supposed to fly by themselves we all would have been issued broomsticks.:D
Uhm, did they offloaded the luggage before the plane went up in flames?
Were you expecting something?
atb35
08-20-2007, 06:03 PM
was the plane flying? thought it caught fire before it took off? just wondering.
*curious to see how they twist this to make it the fault of americans
A'Sharad
08-20-2007, 06:03 PM
Uhm, did they offloaded the luggage before the plane went up in flames?
That would be a big negative. I think thier main concern was the pax then keeping the dang thing from exploding.
socalheart
08-20-2007, 06:13 PM
Were you expecting something?
No, but just thought of all the loss claims they'll have to settle on burned up luggage and of how most animals being flown fly in a special cargo section (or so I've heard) under the main cabins.
Watching the news tonight and there was video of the passengers using the emergency chutes and running away from the plane. Amazing thing is that all the passengers got off the plane in about 1 1/2 minutes and then the plane exploded. Thank God no one was seriously injured or killed.
jukes6969
08-20-2007, 07:24 PM
Crazy part is I was dropping of my wife and son at that air port when this happened. Everyone in the airport was talking about it (as I was worried about making sure my family made there flight, which as it turns out, left two hours late, now they have to change the connecting plans.) It seemed like everything was ok on scene, and well they didnt give me much problems when I left the airport about 1130
atb35
08-20-2007, 08:46 PM
I was being sarcastic. I know the first thing that will happen is ppl will look to blame someone...even though nobody died or got hurt. Shit happens, unless someone was blatantly negligent...let it go.
ryukyuboi
08-20-2007, 08:59 PM
I arrived this morning at 11:45 from Korea on an Asiana flight. After landing the captain informed the passengers that there would be a 30 minute wait on the ground due to conjestion at the gates. I chuckled to myself when I heard that explanation because I couldn't imagine Naha International airport being congested where a 30 minute wait would be necessary.
Shortly after the captain announced the delay, our plane began to taxi to the far end of the landing strip. Passengers were able to view the plane. There was no smoke or fire as we passed the China Airlines plane. However, there were tons of red lights flashing, and many workers on the scene. Much of the plane was blackend, and the top portion of the plane near the front was gone. The nose was severed from the rest of the plane.
Finally a bus arrived to take some of the passengers to customs and immigration. I was one of the first travelers to pass through immigration and customs. There were many passengers, presumably from the China Airlines flight, waiting around the baggage claim area. After customs cleared me, I went through the doors and was surprised to see a lot of people waiting around with all kinds of cameras.
I talked with several taxi cab drivers before catching a taxi home. They asked me if I had seen the China Airline plane. I told them that I had seen it. They told me no one was hurt. They also believed the plane caught on fire due to fueling - which must have been the word on the street at that point in time.
Had this incident happened on a military base, the local government officials would have penned a nastygram immediately to the military base stressing the need for safety and the potential harm such events could impose on residents in the area. Where are those voices now?
bad_karma
08-20-2007, 09:59 PM
Like others have said, I refuse to fly China Airlines because of incidents like this, not to mention their less than stellar safety record while actually flying.
Back in '01 I went to Bangkok for a seminar through the company I was working for in Naha at the time. I told our accountant to book me on anything but China Airlines. I wound up taking a JAL/Thai Airways code share routed through Kansai. It took the better part of half a day just to get to BKK, but I got there and back in one piece.
Today's mishap may have been an American-made Boeing 737, but the maintenance of said aircraft falls squarely on the shoulders of China Air.
Makes me feel all the better to fly ANA my next trip out next month.
Peace,
BK out
I talked with several taxi cab drivers before catching a taxi home. They asked me if I had seen the China Airline plane. I told them that I had seen it. They told me no one was hurt. They also believed the plane caught on fire due to fueling - which must have been the word on the street at that point in time.
Well as you probably know by now the plane was taxiing to it's gate when they were notified that one of the engines was smoking and fuel leaking from the right engine, the pilot then ordered everyone off the plane, which was smart thinking, it saved everyones lives. The pilot and co pilot jumped out of the front windows just as it exploded.
Had this incident happened on a military base, the local government officials would have penned a nastygram immediately to the military base stressing the need for safety and the potential harm such events could impose on residents in the area. Where are those voices now
So what's the point? If it happened on base I wonder if the passenger and crew would be around to tell their stories.
These people were downright lucky.
DougP
08-20-2007, 11:15 PM
Well this should take some of the attention away from Peter Simpson's rant. Concidering jetliners for the air carrier crashed in 2002, 1999, 1998 and 1994, killing more than 1,000 people. so yeah this makes number 5 for them. :D
These people were downright lucky.
I've been thinking the same thing all day. At least they weren't in the air.
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