China Airlines 747 SUDDEN Disappearance | Scratching The Surface | Mayday: Air Disaster

25. May 2002 - Twenty minutes after takeoff from Taipei, a China Airlines 747 suddenly disappears from the radar. A massive rescue operation is launched, but no survivors are found.

What small problem from 20 years ago caused the plane to crash?

Mayday: Air Disaster - from Season 7 Episode 1 "Scratching the Surface": Twenty minutes after taking off from Taipei, a China Airlines 747 suddenly disappears from radar. A massive rescue mission is launched — but all 225 passengers and crew are dead. After ruling out both a bomb and a gas tank explosion, investigators are stumped. They examine hundreds of pieces of wreckage, until they uncover a single piece of the hull which solves the riddle. The destruction of Flight 611 began with a much smaller problem — twenty years in the past.

Climb into the cockpit for an experience you won’t soon forget. Using news footage, interviews and gripping reenactments, MAYDAY 7 investigates aviation disasters to find out what went wrong and why.

Now in its seventh season, the series takes viewers on eight more ill-fated flights. Based on cockpit voice recorders, eyewitness accounts, and accident reports, the series expertly recreates the pressure and tension of being in the cabin and the cockpit.

MAYDAY 7 also follows survivors, family members and air crash investigators as they piece together the causes of each disaster. Whether the result of a fire on-board, automated flight systems, pilot error, or manufacturing defects, every accident offers valuable lessons about air travel, that ultimately make flying safer.

MAYDAY 7 takes you to the scene of the crash like no other show. Buckle up for another season of tension-filled flying and surprising scientific investigation.

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[christopherpardell]

Back then, I regularly flew on China Air 611 on 4-5 trips I made to China every year. It was always the same plane with the same crew. I flew business class, which was upstairs in their 747’s and had the same two flight attendants every time I flew that route. They knew me by name and I had only just learned their real Chinese names. I flew into Hong Kong on 611 the day before this accident. This plane just flew back and forth between Taipei and Hong Kong several times each day, but the morning leg into Landau was always 611. After I landed, the plane made 3 more legs, and then came apart the next time it flew the 611 leg. The attendants I had gotten to know all died. I remember reading about the crash in the paper the next morning in my hotel room. I would have been on that flight if I had booked one day later.

[jenniferbooth]

My only trip on a 747 was on Cathay Pacific to Hong Kong from LA. The whole trip I was terrified flying over the ocean. Taking off in Hong Kong to go back to the states was awful. We took off in a typhoon and the first 5 hours the turbulence was so bad I felt like we were going to crash. I loved Hong Kong and will continue to fly often but it was scary. My heart goes out to all families involved that lost a love one.

[nysockexchange]

Might be an old episode but I've never seen it this clear on YouTube.

[cw]

Yay! An episode I haven’t seen before!

[ricksanchez]

5:36 that little boy just booted that ball into space lol

[ryantheyoutuber]

The sad part comes in in these episodes when nobody gets interviewed because they all died

[jeremy]

I honestly feel the mechanic that did the repair and every person that signed off on the inspection of that plane for the 10yrs before the accident should be held accountable or at the very least loose there license I know absolutely nothing about repairing planes but I do know something being air tight shouldn't be leaking through an air tight repair patch

[triXsolarflare]

I was sent to inspect several aircraft that were having issues for over a year in China. I was sent there to determine what the issues were and to assess whether they could accomplish their upcoming C checks on their own, or to fly them to one of our authorized service am not sure if I can comment further :)

[armchairwarrior]

For some people don't confuse China Airlines with Air China. Two different companies.

[davidbeaufeaux]

how many cycles did this 22 yr old bird have, I am guessing way over the recommended by Bowing 25000 it probably gone at least 50000

[jenniferbooth]

Basically this airline disaster could have been prevented 100% if they fixed it correctly.

[MrMississippiMan]

Omg this episode has been reposted so many times

[johnshields]

How would you feel if you saw a repair sheet of a doubler patch on an airliner you were about to board for a flight.

[kephrekhtheunbroken]

"china was conducting military exercises in the taiwan strait"
me who knows they do that every other day: *visible confusion*

[ultrajd]

It’s so sad that these changes and recommendations and stuff only happen after the accident. Does nobody in the aviation industry take Murphy’s Law into account?

We need to find ways to think of accident prevention things before the bad stuff happens. I’m tired of seeing recommendations and stuff basically being written in blood.

[lyfandeth]

Three 747s were destroyed prior to TWA800 in the same year. IIRC one burnt to the ground, at the gate, in Thailand. But the FAA and Boeing had so much hubris they ignored the possibility of a defect. Until a US plane went down. So much for professionals concerned with safety. The FAA's final safety report gave airlies TWELVE YEARS to retrofit and correct the center tanks. Twelve more years of flying bombs.

[bettyechols]

Seems like every country has investigors that are all fantastic....like they all went to the same training classes

[johnshields]

Yeah, I'm sure it happens often.

[Johnnykgb-nsa]

Leave it to China to half repair something.

[LWRC]

Unbelievable this wws done 22 years ago with 22, 000 flights!!!
• There should have neen an independent inspector verifying the original repair was done correctly.
• Inspection of the tail section for the last 7 years - no one reported the stains from cigarettes!!!