View source for China Airlines Flight 611

The [[China Airlines Flight 611]] best refers to the accident that occurred on May 25, 2002, which is one of [[List of maintenance-related failures|maintenance-related failures in aviation]].


==Description==
On May 25, 2002, China Airlines Flight 611, Boeing 747-200, took off Taiwan's Zhongzheng International Airport while heading to Hong Kong International Airport, but broke into pieces in mid-air and crashed in the waters near Penghu, killing all 206 passengers and 19 crew members on board. The accident was the result of metal fatigue caused by inadequate maintenance after a previous incident.

During the permanent maintenance of China Airlines, the maintenance personnel discovered the severe metal fatigue skin and, instead of replacing the whole skin according to the structural maintenance manual prescribed by Boeing, just covered the area with an aluminum plate similar in size to the damaged skin. However, the maintenance personnel indicated on the maintenance record that the maintenance was carried out in accordance with the Boeing maintenance guidelines. Follow-up maintenance personnel believed his maintenance record and were not checked.

==Causes==
In fact, after investigation, it was found that the aircraft had maintenance records before the accident and the tail skin was damaged, but the maintenance personnel did not replace the whole skin according to the requirements of the maintenance manual. But only the damaged part was repaired. After the aircraft climbed, the accumulated metal fatigue here led to the falling off of the whole tail, which eventually led to the crash of the aircraft. This is very similar to the original [[Aloha Airlines Flight 243|Aloha accident in the United States]], which is caused by the accumulated metal fatigue caused by long-term rain erosion.

The reason is that on February 7, 1980, the aircraft damaged the machine tail skin at the time of flying, and was transported back to Taiwan for temporary maintenance on the same day. However, it only covers the area with an aluminum plate with an area that is similar to the damaged skin, and does not replace the one-piece skin with the maintenance guidelines prescribed by Boeing, which thus accumulates the metal fatigue. After the crack, the aircraft tail fell off and out of control, and finally crashed through the loss of pressure and control.