Apparantly a China Airlines 747 had a close call in Hawaii today. Nothing definite out from the FAA yet. What do you think? Dangerous situation or over reaction?
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Aq737 From United States of America, joined Nov 2000, 612 posts, RR: 0 Reply 3, posted (10 years 4 months 3 weeks 1 day 3 hours ago) and read 4446 times:
I can confirm this news. It seems likely because the witnesses reported the cherry blossom "pinky red" tail and blue stripes. It was reported at about 7 so, we do not know what exactly happened, but it is probably likely becuase CI only ops 744s to HNL witht he exception of occassional MD-11s. However, the building is a good distance from the regular approach path to the reef runway during Kona winds. Was it trying to land on the runway usually used by AQ and HA takeoffs? O well, very scary, and this confirms that I will never fly CI, even if they give me a free flight. Whats next? Theyve almost had it all. Plane crashes, wrong runway (even taxiway) takeoffs...the list goes on.
T prop From United States of America, joined Apr 2001, 996 posts, RR: 1 Reply 4, posted (10 years 4 months 3 weeks 1 day 3 hours ago) and read 4436 times:
It was reported that the aircraft was over flying the city on a visual approach, most likely for 26R. Controllers noticed and warned the crew that they were to far inland.
An approach to 26R is very unusual for a heavy jet. 26L must not have been available for some reason. On this approach heavy aircraft follow the shoreline and cross land over the harbor, light aircraft do overfly the city.
I can see people panicking because they've never seen a heavy jet fly over downtown so low. As far as 30 feet, thats plain bullshit.
Je89_w From United States of America, joined Mar 2002, 2327 posts, RR: 10 Reply 6, posted (10 years 4 months 3 weeks 1 day 3 hours ago) and read 4391 times:
AIRLINERS.NET CREW PHOTO SCREENER
At 7 AM . . . what was I doing?
I don't live in Century Center but I sure heard a roar (sounded like it was overhead) while I was sleeping! (At least I was not 30 feet away from the arriving CI B744! ) Man! Should have went to the balcony of my condo to photograph it instead of remaining in my bed . . .
Thanks for the information, I was trying to figure what was that noise.
Cx flyboy From Hong Kong, joined Dec 1999, 6341 posts, RR: 56 Reply 7, posted (10 years 4 months 3 weeks 1 day 3 hours ago) and read 4377 times:
I think everyone should wait for the official report. We are all very good at saying how stupid everyone is for making completely wrong comments after the facts are know. Let's not fall into the trap of becoming one of those people shall me?
Positive rate From Australia, joined Sep 2001, 2143 posts, RR: 1 Reply 8, posted (10 years 4 months 3 weeks 1 day 2 hours ago) and read 4348 times:
Didn't something like this happen before? I remember reading in an Airlines magazine about 5 years back that a DC-10 was actually seen flying at a level BELOW the highrise apartments. People standing on their balconies were actually looking down to see the DC-10 fly past LOL. Imagine that.
United777 From United States of America, joined May 1999, 1648 posts, RR: 1 Reply 9, posted (10 years 4 months 3 weeks 1 day 2 hours ago) and read 4304 times:
I agree with aq737. This is nothing new for China Airlines. Although they may have a good fleet and getting new aircraft there pilots remain the same. I would never fly China Airlines.
I don't know how the airplane could come so close although the aircraft taking off due depart towards downtown Honolulu. It's scary.
United777 From United States of America, joined May 1999, 1648 posts, RR: 1 Reply 10, posted (10 years 4 months 3 weeks 1 day 2 hours ago) and read 4291 times:
There have been strong winds today in the Honolulu area. I think I heard that there were 50-60 MPH winds. Could that have played a factor in the airplane flying too low?
Bobcat From United States of America, joined Jun 2007, 0 posts, RR: 0 Reply 11, posted (10 years 4 months 3 weeks 1 day 2 hours ago) and read 4290 times:
Airbus Lover From Malaysia, joined Apr 2000, 3248 posts, RR: 10 Reply 12, posted (10 years 4 months 3 weeks 1 day 2 hours ago) and read 4281 times:
I think the problem with CI is the management, the way they control their people, in maintainence, pilots, training officers etc... and their training is flawed... I think KE is rather successful with their new training programme in association with FlightSafetyBoeing...
I heard that CI have been hiring quite a number of Belgian and Australian pilots for their new Airbuses or other planes. Let's hope that they start realising their problems and rectify them before it is too late... ( it is half way to becoming late already )...
A330 From Belgium, joined May 1999, 649 posts, RR: 8 Reply 13, posted (10 years 4 months 3 weeks 1 day ago) and read 4198 times:
You can now fly in safety on their A340 equipment, they are flown by the best trained people in the airline industry: My ex. collegues of Sabena!
For the rest of the fleet... no comment!
Airbus Lover From Malaysia, joined Apr 2000, 3248 posts, RR: 10 Reply 14, posted (10 years 4 months 3 weeks 1 day ago) and read 4173 times:
A330, is that right? Are you sure all of the A340 fleet is flown by ex-Sabena pilots? I believe there are some but am surprised to hear it is all. If it is indeed true then its good news!
Anyways, even if they have the best pilots in the world, they still require good training to keep it up and good maintainence department to keep their planes flying safely, dont u think?
Heavymetal From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 19, posted (10 years 4 months 3 weeks 20 hours ago) and read 3884 times:
Didn't something like this happen before? I remember reading in an Airlines magazine about 5 years back that a DC-10 was actually seen flying at a level BELOW the highrise apartments. People standing on their balconies were actually looking down to see the DC-10 fly past LOL. Imagine that.
I seem to recall thataircraft was an AA -10 whose pilot-in-command was on his retirement flight and was given wink-wink-nudge-nudge clearance to 'buzz the beach'.
Correct me if I'm wrong , but wasn't the 'Waikiki Flyby' a tradition for many many years?
(In any event if that's what China was atempting, he went overboard)
AA717driver From United States of America, joined Feb 2002, 1566 posts, RR: 14 Reply 20, posted (10 years 4 months 3 weeks 19 hours ago) and read 3800 times:
He had to get down that low to see the taxiway he was going to land on! TC
Bobcat From United States of America, joined Jun 2007, 0 posts, RR: 0 Reply 21, posted (10 years 4 months 3 weeks 18 hours ago) and read 3718 times:
One of CI's Airbus A340 took off from the taxiway at Anchorage last year... nobody was hurt and the pilots received their punishment(I think...)
To start off 2003, their 747-400 pilot decided to do a fly-by to impress Honolulu residents. I'm sure it was an incredible sight for those folks in the building, as well as the passengers on the 747. I can only imagine how freightened those were... they could have thought the pilots intended to crash into the building!!!
A few questions:
1) are there instruments inside the 747-400 that will warn the pilot that he's too close(horizontally) to a fixed object?
2) does HNL's air traffic control radar have a record of how close the 747 was to the buliding?
3) if these charges prove to be true, what penalties can the U.S. FAA impose on CI and the pilots involved?
Bobcat From United States of America, joined Jun 2007, 0 posts, RR: 0 Reply 22, posted (10 years 4 months 3 weeks 18 hours ago) and read 3696 times:
Also, just saw the China Airlines spokesman interviewed on MAC TV English news program a few minutes ago.(Taiwan government-run satellite TV broadcasting to North America)
He said the pilots will be questioned when they fly back to Taiwan in a couple of days. However, he mentioned there were extremely strong winds in excess of 50 knots in Honolulu on Saturday, which was partially to blame. Can anyone confirm this about the winds? Thanks!
Bigo747 From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 24, posted (10 years 4 months 3 weeks 17 hours ago) and read 3614 times:
China Airlines has released official statement saying it's a misunderstanding.
CI claims the path that leads to the landing in Honolulu is relatively close to the building.
25 Flybulldog: Is there radar that can confirm how close (or far) the plane came to the building?
26 Vafi88: Big deal, I'm sure the residents were amazed and loved the performance, nothing to piss your pants about...
27 Kaitak: This is not the first time CAL has come to the attention of the FAA for serious errors; the A340 last year and now this. But what would happen if ther
28 EGGD: If it was a CI pilot, he was probably aiming for the building
29 Heavymetal: Big deal, I'm sure the residents were amazed and loved the performance, nothing to piss your pants about... An airline with this one's safety record n
30 United777: Going back to my past post and bobcats in the discussion. There was high winds in the area in Honolulu and could have played a huge factor in this. Th
31 VonRichtofen: I just got back from Taiwan, thank god Northwest flies there. I wouldn't set foot on a CI aircraft. Also, why is it that when some asian airlines are
33 Pilottim747: Here's a local news link: Low-flying 747 shocks residents -- The Honolulu Advertiser And here's the schedule of the involved flight: China Airlines Fl
34 Bigo747: China Airlines now says it could be a JAL 747 that was nearly hit the building. An old lady who lives at the building says she saw "a red colour tail"
35 Blink182: Considering China Airlines' record, I doubt it was JAL. Also, JAL does not have any blue on its colorscheme like some witnesses say they saw. blink
36 TK: VonRichtofen, That comment was inappropriate and uncalled-for. The vast majority of airlines in asia have good safety records and have very competent
37 Trex8: CI pilot training is essentially that of LufthansaTechnik nowadays and its ab initio pilot training in ND is with one of the best university programs
38 Bigo747: Just saw this comment from Taiwan, saying it could be a Northwest 747, since the tail is "red".
39 Hmmmm...: Well I looked into an accident database, to see just how bad the numbers are for Chinese carriers. And it doesn't look too good. Here are the numbers
40 Dc863: I'm not sure how much light their is at 6:55am in Hawaii but how can the crew not recognize their mistake?
41 Usairways85: just heard a report on CNN, they said it was a Korean Air 744, yet showed film of a China Airlines 744. They also said that the plane was no more than
42 Bobcat: This is on CNN: "The China Airlines Boeing 747 was less than a mile off course Saturday morning, said Allen Kenitzer, a spokesman for the Federal Avia
43 Capt.Picard: I think the hiring of foreign flight crew has something to do with the fact that they come already type-rated and with a significant amount of hours o
44 Cx flyboy: Hmmmm... Why don't you shows statistics for the last 5 years compared to statistics for the last 5 years from the US? The Chinese airlines have improv
45 Bobcat: I would like to know why China Airlines is doing so well financially... Most of the planes between USA and Taiwan/Asia are doing extremely well... esp
46 Hoons90: No it cannot be Korean Air, as Korean Air flies the Boeing 777 to HNL, and witnesses reported the cherry blossom "pinky red" tail and blue stripes. ac
47 ConcordeBoy: In addition, the code-share between DL and CI is now being discussed between the two airlines again. What the h*ll is DL trying to do... develope the
48 Trex8: CIs record may be bad but its still a heck of a lot safer than driving and thats probably why they still make a fair profit, plus they are a very big
49 Spaceman: It is not a cherry blossom on the tail of a CI plane Hoons 90. It is another kind of flower which I don't know in English.
50 Airbus Lover: CI is doing so well financially probably because they put their fares soooo low pax couldnt refuse... not only on thier Y also on C and F... Also I wo
51 Trex8: The DL code sharing was not cancelled so much as delayed and the claimed reason was more financial due to the slow down of the market than any perceiv
52 KaiTakFan: CX flyboy, please do list some statistics on the last 5 years for both nations air safety. I would really like to see where you get the idea that the
53 Hmmmm...: None of these 100 people on a MD80 etc Half of those planes were narrowbodies. Of those 19 accidents that killed 1,534 passengers, the average fatalit
54 Je89_w: Korean Air do fly the B744s into HNL . . . Sometimes. On that day (Saturday), KE operated a B773 HL7534. Spaceman, I know the name of the flower, but
55 Bobcat: China Airlines uses a pink plum flower as its logo. (yes, that big pink one on the tail)
56 Diezel: I am surprised that so many posters in this thread are so negative about CI. Incidents like this happen everyday with every airline. But not always wi
57 Trex8: If you do crash rest assured that the CI team charged with contacting your next of kin are very experienced! Just kidding! Have a great trip. I haven'
58 Cx flyboy: KaiTakFan, I don't think that airlines in the US are particularly dangerous. I am merely saying that the Chinese airlines are not that dangerous eithe
59 Ha763: The CI 747 was roughly 1 mile off the course normally taken by aircraft during Kona wind operations. That actually would put it rather close to the Ce
60 VonRichtofen: Tk, If you re-read my post you'll see that I said some asian airlines and some asian flight schools so I was not implying that the entire asian aviati
61 Ryanozawa: FWIW, Honolulu's ABC affiliate KITV aired "exclusive video" of the China Airlines jet in question as it passed over Waikiki: htp://www.thehawaiichanne
62 Je89_w: I can't seem to get the page you posted Ryanozawa. Jerrold
63 Ha763: Jerrold Try this link: http://www.thehawaiichannel.com/news/ The story is under Hawaii Headlines.
64 Ryanozawa: Sorry about that. Typed 'htp' instead of 'http': http://www.thehawaiichannel.com/news/1878371/detail.html
65 Bobcat: Thanks for the video link... The China Airlines 747 was no where near the 30 feet that was originally reported. On the other hand, it is a rather unus
66 Hkgspotter1: What did one women say ?, she could see passengers inside the plane as it flew past her 12th floor window !!. What a load of crap.
67 KaiTakFan: I see your point CX FlyBoy. And you do make valid comparisons. I agree that it really does not make much sense to do the finger pointing in this case.
68 Hkg82: Too bad CI is the airline involved, with their safety record & recent crash, the press would be ALL over them. Hkg82.
69 Red Panda: This is not as hair-raising as Kai Tak approach. It is nothing compared to Kai Tak. r panda P.S. I mean the approach shown on the video may be dangero
70 Ryanozawa: For the curious, the internal FAA "briefing sheet" on the incident was released: http://www.hawaiinews.com/archives/unusual/000046.shtml The report sa
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) Man! Should have went to the balcony of my condo to photograph it instead of remaining in my bed . . . 
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