1999, August 22. A China Airlines MD-11 crashed while landing at Hong Kong’s Chek Lap Kok airport, during a rain storm with strong, gusting crosswinds. The right gear struck the runway very hard and then broke off, allowing the right engine and wing to strike the ground. The right wing then broke off and the plane flipped upside down. That is very similar to the type of damage incurred by the Fed Ex MD-11, when it crashed at Newark. Three of the 315 people on board Flight C1642 were killed. The rest owe their lives to the Hong Kong airport’s fire brigade that put out the fire before it engulfed those trapped in the wreckage. It took almost 3 hours to remove all the survivors.
Photo of the China Air crash at Hong Kong, courtesy of
Failure of the wings, in the area of the fuselage attach points, has called into question the structural integrity of the wing box structure of the MD-11 and is part of the focus of investigation in both accidents.
It was the same plane that was involved in the turbulence accident on Dec. 7, 1992, described above.
1999, October 17. A Fed Ex MD-11 touched down at Subic Bay, in the Philippines and then ran off the end of the runway and sunk in Subic Bay. The plane was a total loss, but the 2 pilots escaped with only minor injuries.