TransAsia Airways Flight 510A

TransAsia Airways Flight 510A

A TransAsia Airways ATR 72-202 similar to the aircraft involved. This aircraft crashed seven years later
Accident
Date	30 January 1995 (1995-01-30)
Summary	Controlled flight into terrain due to pilot error
Site	Tu-keng, Guishan District, Taoyuan, Taiwan 24°59′7.977″N121°22′8.982″E / 24.98554917°N 121.36916167°E / 24.98554917; 121.36916167
Aircraft
Aircraft type	ATR 72-200
Operator	TransAsia Airways
IATA flight No.	GE510A
ICAO flight No.	TNA510A
Call sign	TransAsia 510 Alpha
Registration	B-22717
Flight origin	Magong Airport
Destination	Songshan Airport
Occupants	4
Crew	4
Fatalities	4
Survivors	0

On 30 January 1995, TransAsia Airways Flight 510A crashed in Taiwan's Guishan District during a ferry flight. ^{[1] [2] [3] [4] [5]}

Background

Aircraft

The aircraft involved in the accident was an ATR 72-200. Registered B-22717 with serial number 435, it was manufactured on 16 November the previous year and had since accumulated 265 hours and 47 minutes of flight time. ^{[1] : 3} It was equipped with two Pratt & Whitney PW124B turboprops, both had flown for nearly 275 hours. ^{[1] : 4}

Crew

The captain, 54-year-old Wang Hongjia, was the pilot monitoring. He had clocked over 17,000 hours of flight time with almost 2,000 hours on the ATR 72. ^{[1] : 2} The first officer, 58-year-old Li Guangzhi, was the pilot flying. He had accumulated a total flying experience of nearly 6,900 hours, of which more than 4,400 hours were on the make and model. ^{[1] : 3} Two flight attendants, 26-year-old Lau Wai-hing and 25-year-old Lin Ziya, were also on-board the flight. ^{[1] : 3}

Accident

The aircraft, an ATR 72-200, had just dropped off passengers in Penghu for the Lunar New Year and was being ferried back to Taipei. During approach the aircraft deviated from its assigned course and crashed into a hill, killing all four crew members on board. ^{[6] [7] [8]}

Investigation

The investigation revealed that the flight crew failed to maintain situational awareness and did not cross check their navigation aids. ^{[9] [10]}

References

1. "航空器失事調查報告書 – 復興航空公司 ATR72-200, B-22717 桃園龜山 民國八十四年一月三十日" [AIRCRAFT ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION REPORT – TransAsia Airways ATR 72-200, B-22717, Guishan, Taoyuan, January 30, 1995](PDF) (in Chinese). Civil Aeronautics Administration M.O.T.C. 18 May 2000.
2. Ranter, Harro. "Accident description". Aviation Safety Network. Flight Safety Foundation. Retrieved 9 January 2025.
3. "復興失事客機黑盒子通話內容公布 最後廿秒出現異常 隨後撞山" [TransAsia Crash: Black Box Communication Contents Released; Abnormalities Detected in the Last 20 Seconds Before the Crash]. Min Sheng Bao (in Chinese). 9 February 1995. p. 18.
4. "復興班機墜毀龜山 四組員罹難 機上無乘客 兔坑村山區火光可見 松山機場還關閉跑道等候降落 另兩班機因此改降中正機場" [TransAsia Flight Crashes in Guishan; Four Crew Members Killed, No Passengers on Board. Flames Visible in the Mountain Area of Tuku Village. Songshan Airport Closed Runway Awaiting Landings; Two Other Flights Diverted to Taoyuan Airport]. United Daily News (in Chinese). 31 January 1995. p. 1.
5. "上月購進 飛行時數僅兩百餘小時 失事客機 昨天飛行11趟" [Purchased Last Month, the Crashed Aircraft Had Only Flown Just Over 200 Hours and Made 11 Flights Yesterday]. United Daily News (in Chinese). 31 January 1995. p. 4.
6. "國籍航空器固定翼及旋翼機全毀失事事件統計表(80年1月至96年12月)" [Statistical table of national aircraft fixed-wing and rotary-wing total crashes (January 1980 to December 1996)] (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Civil Aeronautics Administration. December 2007. Archived from the original (xls) on 4 February 2015. Retrieved 2 June 2014.
7. "Taiwan plane flew too low when it crashed". Honolulu Star-Bulletin . 1 February 1995. Archived from the original on 5 October 2024. Retrieved 5 October 2024– via Newspapers.com.
8. Cai, Zhenyuan 蔡振源 (8 February 1995). "復興空難 黑盒子解讀 發現'有不正常訊號'" [TransAsia Crash: Black Box Analysis Reveals 'Abnormal Signals']. United Evening News  [ zh ] (in Chinese). p. 3.
9. "Crash of an ATR72-202 near Taipei: 4 killed". www.baaa-acro.com. Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
10. Jing, Hung-Sying; Batteau, Allen (2016). The Dragon in the Cockpit: How Western Aviation Concepts Conflict with Chinese Value Systems. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge. pp. 25–31. ISBN   978-1-4724-1030-6 . Retrieved 5 October 2024– via Google Books.