Far Eastern Air Transport Flight 103
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Far Eastern Air Transport Flight 103 was a flight from Taiwan Taipei
Songshan Airport Taipei Songshan Airport is a regional airport and military airbase located in Songshan District, Taipei, Taiwan. The airport covers an area of . The civilian section of Songshan Airport has scheduled flights to domestic destinations in Taiwa ...
to
Kaohsiung International Airport Kaohsiung International Airport () is a medium-sized civil airport in Siaogang District, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, also known as Siaogang Airport (). With nearly seven million passengers in 2018, it is the second busiest airport in Taiwan, after T ...
that crashed on 22 August 1981, killing all 110 people on board. The Boeing 737-222 aircraft disintegrated in midair and crashed in the township of
Sanyi, Miaoli Sanyi Township () is a rural township in southern Miaoli County, Taiwan. It is famous for its (woodcarving) industry, earning it the name the ''Woodcarving Kingdom of Taiwan''. Geography Sanyi is located in the mountains of northwestern Taiwan ...
. It is also called the Sanyi Air Disaster. The crash is the third-deadliest aviation accident on the Taiwanese soil, behind China Airlines Flight 676 and China Airlines Flight 611.


Aircraft

* Aircraft model: Boeing 737-222 * Manufacturing serial number: 19939/151 * Registration: B-2603 (ex 
United Airlines United Airlines, Inc. (commonly referred to as United), is a major American airline headquartered at the Willis Tower in Chicago, Illinois.
N9058U) * Year of manufacture: 1969


Summary

The aircraft had previously lost
cabin pressure Cabin pressurization is a process in which conditioned air is pumped into the cabin of an aircraft or spacecraft in order to create a safe and comfortable environment for passengers and crew flying at high altitudes. For aircraft, this air is ...
on 5 August; and earlier on the day of the crash, it had departed Songshan Airport, but the crew aborted the flight 10 minutes later for the same reason. After repairs were made, the aircraft departed Songshan Airport again bound for Kaohsiung International Airport. At 14 minutes after takeoff, the aircraft suffered an explosive decompression and disintegrated. The wreckage was scattered across an area long, located some south of
Taipei Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the n ...
. The nose section landed in Sanyi Township,
Miaoli County Miaoli County (Mandarin Pinyin: ''miáo lì xiàn''; Hakka PFS: ''Mèu-li̍t-yen''; Hokkien POJ: ''Biâu-le̍k-koān'' or ''Miâu-le̍k-koān'') is a county in western Taiwan. Miaoli is adjacent with Hsinchu County and Hsinchu City to the nort ...
. Other debris landed in the townships of Yuanli, Tongluo, and
Tongxiao Tongxiao Township is an township (Taiwan), urban township in southern Miaoli County, Taiwan. It lies between the Taiwan Strait on the west and mountains on the east. History The town was formerly called ''Thunsiau'' (). Geography *Area: * Popu ...
. All 110 passengers and crew died. After the accident, due to it occurring in a mountainous region, road traffic was backed up. The remains of the victims were driven to the Shengxing railway station, from where they were transported by train.


Cause

Although early speculation indicated that the crash was caused by an explosive device, an investigation by the Republic of China Civil Aeronautics Board concluded that severe
corrosion Corrosion is a natural process that converts a refined metal into a more chemically stable oxide. It is the gradual deterioration of materials (usually a metal) by chemical or electrochemical reaction with their environment. Corrosion engine ...
led to a pressure-hull rupture. The severe corrosion was due to the many pressurization flight cycles the aircraft had experienced, and that cracks produced were probably undetected.


Victims


Notable victims

*
Kuniko Mukōda was a Japanese TV screenwriter. Most of her scripts focus on day-to-day family life and relationships. She won the 83rd Naoki Prize (1980上) for her short stories "Hanano Namae", "Kawauso" and "Inugoya." Life Mukōda was born in Tokyo, and mov ...
, a Japanese TV screenwriter, was heading to Kaohsiung for a festival.


See also

*
Japan Airlines Flight 123 Japan Air Lines Flight 123 (JAL123) () was a scheduled domestic Japan Air Lines passenger flight from Haneda Airport in Tokyo to Itami International Airport in Osaka. On August 12, 1985, the Boeing 747SR operating this flight suffered a sudden ...
* China Airlines Flight 611 *
Aloha Airlines Flight 243 Aloha Airlines Flight 243 (IATA: AQ243, ICAO: AAH243) was a scheduled Aloha Airlines flight between Hilo and Honolulu in Hawaii. On April 28, 1988, a Boeing 737-297 serving the flight suffered extensive damage after an explosive decompression ...
* Continental Express Flight 2574 *
BOAC Flight 781 BOAC Flight 781 was a scheduled British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) passenger flight from Singapore to London. On 10 January 1954, a de Havilland Comet passenger jet operating the flight suffered an explosive decompression at altitude an ...
* Chalk's Ocean Airways Flight 101


References


External links


Aviation Safety Network

Airliners.net
Photos of the airline * * UK CAA Document CAA 429 World Airline Accident Summary (ICAO Summary 4/76) {{Aviation accidents and incidents in 1981 August 1981 events in Asia 1981 in Taiwan Aviation accidents and incidents in 1981 Aviation accidents and incidents in Taiwan Accidents and incidents involving the Boeing 737 Original Airliner accidents and incidents caused by in-flight structural failure Airliner accidents and incidents caused by maintenance errors 1981 disasters in Taiwan