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Uni Air Flight 873

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Uni Air Flight 873
The aircraft burning on the runway
Accident
Date24 August 1999 (1999-08-24)
SummaryExplosion and fire caused by combustible materials
SiteHualien Airport, Taiwan
Aircraft
Aircraft typeMcDonnell Douglas MD-90
OperatorUni Air
IATA flight No.B7873
ICAO flight No.UIA873
Call signGLORY 873
RegistrationB-17912
Flight originTaipei Songshan Airport, Taiwan
DestinationHualien Airport, Taiwan
Occupants96
Passengers90
Crew6
Fatalities1
Injuries27
Survivors95
B-17912, the aircraft involved in the accident

Uni Air Flight 873 was a Taiwanese domestic passenger flight between Taipei and Hualien that suffered a fire following an explosion after landing at Hualien Airport, Taiwan, on 24 August 1999, resulting in 27 injuries and one death.[1][2]

Aircraft

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The aircraft involved was a McDonnell Douglas MD-90-30 registered as B-17912 with serial number 53536. It was manufactured by McDonnell Douglas in 1996 and had logged 4929 airframe hours in 7736 takeoff and landing cycles. It was also powered by two IAE V2525-D5 engines.[3][4]

Accident

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Uni Air Flight 873 departed from Taipei Songshan Airport (TSA) bound for Hualien Airport (HUN). It was carrying 90 passengers and six crew. Shortly after landing, at 12:36 local time, an explosion was heard in the front section of the passenger cabin, followed by smoke and then fire. A passenger was struck by fragments produced by the explosion. The pilot braked immediately, and an emergency passenger evacuation was initiated. After a call for help to the tower by the pilot, fire squads at Hualien Airport and the Air Force Wing rushed to extinguish the fire, which was put out by 13:45 WST.

While the upper part of the fuselage was completely destroyed, all 96 of the occupants were evacuated. 14 passengers were seriously injured, while another 14 suffered minor injuries from the blast. Most of the injured passengers suffered burns. Ku Jing-chi, a passenger and the brother of former Taiwanese decathlete Ku Chin-shui, had serious injuries and died 47 days after the accident, while another passenger had a miscarriage of her 26-week-old unborn child.[5]

Investigation

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The aftermath of Flight 873's cabin

Following the accident, the Aviation Safety Council established an Accident Investigation Team. Initial findings revealed that the factors involved in the accident were not solely related to aviation safety. The investigation later revealed that Ku Chin-shui, who was absent from the flight, had given bottles of flammable liquid to his nephew to transport.

An Aviation Safety Council report said it was thought that the bottles were incorrectly sealed and gasoline fumes leaked, which later ignited when a motorbike battery in a nearby overhead luggage compartment was jostled, discharging an electric arc.[5] Ku was initially sentenced to a 10-year prison term, which was shortened to 7+12 years upon appeal. The fifth retrial found him not guilty after the judge said that although Ku had asked his nephew to carry a bottle of bleach in his luggage, the fragments that tested positive for gasoline were not limited to the fragments of the bottle.

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The accident is featured in the third episode of Season 20 of Mayday, also known as Air Crash Investigation and Air Disasters. The episode is titled "Explosive Touchdown".[6]

This incident is featured in Episode 115 of the Rooster Teeth podcast Black Box Down.[7]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "MD-90-30 cabin explosion and fire during landing roll Hua-Lien, Taiwan" (PDF). Aviation Safety Council. 24 August 2000. Retrieved 9 January 2020.
  2. ^ "B7873 Preliminary Report" (PDF). Aviation Safety Council. Retrieved 9 January 2020.
  3. ^ "Accident McDonnell Douglas MD-90-30 B-17912, Tuesday 24 August 1999". asn.flightsafety.org. Retrieved 2024-09-27.
  4. ^ "Crash of a McDonnell Douglas MD-90-30 in Hualien | Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives". www.baaa-acro.com. Retrieved 2024-09-27.
  5. ^ a b "Man cleared of 1999 Uni Air accident - Taipei Times". www.taipeitimes.com. 14 May 2011. Retrieved 2020-01-09.
  6. ^ Uni Air Flight 873 at IMDb
  7. ^ Sorola, Gustavo; Demarais, Chris (27 April 2023). "Explosion Hits Plane After Landing Safely in Taiwan". Rooster Teeth.
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