Far Eastern Air Transport Flight 104 should not be confused with Far Eastern Air Transport Flight 103.
Occurrence Type: | Accident |
Far Eastern Transport Flight 104 | |
Type: | Engine failure |
Site: | Near Tainan City, Taiwan |
Aircraft Type: | Handley Page Dart Herald |
Operator: | Far Eastern Air Transport |
Tail Number: | B-2009 |
Origin: | Kaohsiung International Airport |
Destination: | Taipei Songshan Airport |
Occupants: | 36 |
Passengers: | 32 |
Crew: | 4 |
Fatalities: | 36 |
Survivors: | 0 |
Far Eastern Air Transport Flight 104 was a short-haul flight from Kaohsiung International Airport to Taipei Songshan Airport, Taiwan using a Handley Page Dart Herald 201 that crashed on 24 February 1969 upon its approach for an emergency landing in Tainan Airport in Taiwan.[1]
On February 24, 1969, the B-2009 aircraft carried out the FE104 flight that ended the Spring Festival holiday and flew from Kaohsiung International Airport to Taipei Songshan Airport. The flight took off at 12:03 pm, after a 13-minute delay from 11:50 am. Ten minutes after take-off, the captain told the Tainan Airport Tower that an engine failure had occurred. The aircraft's port-side engine had failed, leaving its propeller windmilling and the aircraft in a shallow descent. The flight crew decided to divert to Tainan Airport in Tainan City. Moments after receiving clearance for an emergency landing, however, the aircraft passed over a wooded area, belly-landed in a small clearing and skidded into a creek. The aircraft broke into three parts and caught fire, killing all on board.
The right engine had been severely damaged, likely during takeoff, causing the aircraft to quickly lose altitude.