China Airlines announced that Flight CI 120 from Taipei to Okinawa caught fire during taxi operations at Okinawa Airport, but stressed that all passengers were safe. The Boeing 737-800 aircraft was carrying eight…
China Airlines announced that Flight CI 120 from Taipei to Okinawa caught fire during taxi operations at Okinawa Airport, but stressed that all passengers were safe. The Boeing 737-800 aircraft was carrying eight business class and 147 economy class passengers. All 155 passengers and two infants, plus eight crew members, were safe.
The passenger list included 114 Taiwanese nationals and 19 Japanese, with the remaining passengers from other countries. The crew included two pilots and six cabin attendants; one of the cabin attendants was Japanese. The captain, Yu Chien-Kuo, 48 years old, has been flying 737-800 aircraft for CAL for six years, accumulating 7,874 flying hours. The co-pilot, first officer PhillipTseng, 26 years old, has accumulated 845 flying hours. He earned his own CPL (Commercial Pilot Licence) and joined CAL one year and two months ago.
China Airlines, CI-122, from Taipei to Okinawa, has departed from Taipei at 16:10 (Monday 20 August). The passengers on flight CI- 120 may claim their baggage losses from China Airlines, according to regulations, and CAL will do everything it can to assist this process.
The maintenance record check showed that the aircraft, before the accident, had undergone the usual strict checks without showing any unusual findings. The two CFM56-7B26 engines, manufactured by CFM, had just completed aroutine inspection.
China Airlines headquarters, and its branch office in Okinawa, have organized an emergency team to handle the accident and investigation.
