Accident DCA07RA061 - No Serious Injuries LOCATION: Okinawa, Japan DATE : August 20, 2007 TIME: 10:36 Local time (JST) AIRCRAFT: B737-800


OPERATOR: China Airlines


2 Pilots, 1 Cabin Chief, 5 Flight Attendants, 157 Passengers, 2 Infants The flight was, by all means, normal until the last few minutes at the gate.


The ground crew noticed fuel coming from under the center of the aircraft which had ignited.


The Captain ordered an emergency evacuation, the cabin crew (having doors still armed) immediately initiated the mass evacuation.


Near the end of the Unplanned Evacuation there was an explosion under the #1 engine followed by an explosion under the #2 engine that completely engulfed the center section of the aircraft.


The engine did not explode. The explosion came from under the engine (on the ground) where there was a fuel environment. An ignition source (the fire above) caused the fuel pool to ignite.


Incidents like this are not infrequent. “Extensive research…revealed that dangerous conditions in fuel tanks occur more commonly than had been believed, and there are numerous potential sources of energy to ignite fuel tank vapors,” as told by the NTSB on August 8, 2001 NTSB Advisory Bulletin.


The COA, referencing the US FAA, issued Airworthiness Directive AD/B737/119, “Since the issuing of FAA AD T98-11-52, the FAA has received additional reports of severe wear of fuel boost pump wiring on model 737 series airplanes…the FAA has expanded the inspection requirements to include aircraft that have accumulated between 20,000 and 30,000 hours total time in service.”


This aircraft had an estimated 14,000 hours prior to flight.


A spokesman for the Taiwan’s CAA said, “Based on the information we have gathered, the Flight Attendants evacuated all the passengers in accordance with the standard operation procedure, which requires that all passengers be evacuated within 90 seconds in the case of emergency.”


No one was seriously injured. 3 Inflight Fire and Smoke


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