Salvage teams in Taiwan recover 60% of crashed China Airlines aircraft

Airline Industry Information, July 26, 2002

AIRLINE INDUSTRY INFORMATION-(C)1997-2002 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD

Salvage teams have reportedly recovered about 60% of the wreckage from a China Airlines aircraft which crashed into the Taiwan Strait on 25 May 2002.

The cause of the accident, which occurred during a flight from Taipei, Taiwan to Hong Kong, remains unknown. The 22-year-old Boeing 747-200 aircraft had departed from Chiang Kai-shek International Airport, some 40 kilometres south of Taipei, with 206 passengers and 19 crew members on aboard. About 20 minutes into the flight the aircraft broke into four pieces at an altitude of over 30,000 feet, before disappearing from radar screens.

Investigators have stated that the wreckage may provide the only clues to why the aircraft crashed, killing all 225 people on board.

Cracks have reportedly been discovered in the aircraft's rear fuselage and other pieces of wreckage, and investigators are currently carrying out investigations to determine whether the cracks had existed before the incident, reported The Associated Press.

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