Seeking comments re China Airlines

[mongatu]

China Airlines is posting some very low fares for travel from SFO to BKK. I heard they have had a relatively poor safety record, with their latest crash being possibly due to poor maintainance. Anyway, I was wondering if anyone here has flown them, how they were? Would you fly them again?

[dddave]

I did an "RTW" trip last year, half of which was on China Airlines- JFK to Taiwan then Hong Kong and Bangkok. My Taiwan to HK leg was on flight C611, the one that crashed 2 weeks later and I know it was the same aircraft because it was the only 747-200 they still had in passenger service. Pretty scarry when I think about it.

Service and comfort were pretty standard for economy, seatback video on the JFK to Taipei portion, food ok, flight attendents attractive but formal and very busy.

Would I fly them again? Only if the price was really well below others. I flew to BKK this year on Eva, paying $150 extra for the "Delux Economy" class and found the larger seat with a elevated leg rest made for a much more comfotable trip.

 

Have a good trip,

dj

[legover]

 

 

Not sure if any of us here has the ability to see where China Airlines? future lies but with regard to their safety record it may be worth your while to look into an alternative carrier. What are they charging?

 

 

China ranks world?s 6th worst carrier for accidents. China killed 747 passengers since 1969 plus 58 serious injuries & 1316 minor injuries in 12 accidents out of a total on board figure of 2121 passengers.

 

Fatal event record since 1970

China 7.16

Egypt Air 7.50 &

Royal Jordanian7.99

Aeroperu 9.74

Air Zimbabwe 11.54

Cubana 18.53

 

 

 

the 10 fatal China events since 1970 listed by AirSafe.com

 

1. Aug. 12, 1970; YS 11; Taipei: The aircraft was on approach under heavy rain and low clouds when it struck a low ridge about one-half mile from the runway. Dead: 14.

 

2. Nov. 21, 1971; Caravelle; near Penghu Islands; Formosa Strait: The aircraft was believed to have been destroyed by an inflight explosion caused by a bomb. All on board, 17 passengers and 8 crewmen, were killed.

 

3. Feb. 27, 1980; B 707-300; Manila: The crew executed a steep and unstabilized approach, touching down hard short of the runway and bouncing, eventually stopping on the runway after having the two putboard engines and parts of the wing separated from the aircraft. Two passengers killed.

 

4. Aug. 16, 1982; B 747; near Hong Kong: The aircraft encountered severe inflight turbulence. Two passengers killed.

 

5. Feb. 16, 1986; B 737-200; Pescadores Islands: The aircraft touched down on the runway but crashed during an attempted go-around. All 13 aboard killed.

 

6. Oct. 26, 1989; B 737-200; near Hualien, Taiwan: The crew was using an incorrect departure procedure and hit a cloud-shrouded high ground at 7,000 feet. All 57 aboard killed.

 

7. April 26, 1994; A 300-600; Nagoya, Japan: Crew errors led to the aircraft stalling and crashing during approach. 264 killed.

 

8. Feb. 16, 19981; A 300-600; near Taipei: The aircraft crashed into a residential area during its second landing attempt. Conditions: Dark with rains and reduced visibility due to fog. 197 dead.

 

9. Aug. 22, 1999; MD 11; Hong Kong: The aircraft was landing during a storm at night. It struck the runway and came to rest upside down and on fire. Three passengers killed.

 

10. May 25, 2002; B 747-200; near the Penghu Islands: The aircraft plunged into the sea about 20 minutes into a flight from Taipei to Hong Kong. The impact area was in the Taiwan Straits about 75 km from the coast of Taiwan. Weather and flight conditions were normal, and no distress signal or other communication was received prior to the crash. The flight was carrying 16 crew members and 206 passengers. No report of survivors.

 

 

[buffalo_bill]

legover ,

 

this shows only cases where they were sucessfully killing passengers. There are more .

 

747 sliding over the runway in heavy rain falling into the water Hongkong Kai Tak about 8 years ago

 

A340 taking off via taxiway in Vancouver maybe 1 year ago

 

747 using wrong runway in Manila and hitting a bus about 5 years ago

 

 

Bbill

 

[BadaBing]

The boss from my company's HKG office was on that MD-11 flight that flipped upon landing , he came away ok.

 

BadawontflychinaBing

 

[mongatu]

Well the fares I have been seeing for travel in June on China Airlines are around US$515 for RT SFO - BKK, which is about $140 less than Northwest's current promotional fares. But after reading your and the other posts about their less than stellar safety record, I think I'll choose another airline.

 

Thanks to everyone for responding.

[Guest]

here is some statistical info on airline safety:

 

http://www.crashdatabase.com/

[torrenova]

Here's another useful data source who incidently will email you when there has been a crash / near miss / other event. http://www.airsafe.com/

 

Thinking about it, now we have mobiles with email, you could have a crash, survive aka "Castaway" and then get a bloody message telling about it naming no survivors ! Seems a little ironic but hey, maybe I'm getting too morbid.

 

Regards

 

Torrenova

[mongatu]

Unless you have a satellite phone there wouldn't be coverage for your mobile on a castaway type island.

[Guest]

After 4 trips LAX-BKK on China Airlines I will say my only complaint is the inability to get a seat assingment prior to check in. I like it as it leave here at midnight arriving in BKK in the morning. The crew are pretty, and I would marry each and everyone of them if I could. And it is nice to use the showers at CKS on the way to and from BKK. And really, what are the chances of me being on a aircraft that crashes? Slim to none.