page_title: China Airlines Flight 642
section_title: Summary
hierarchical_section_title: China Airlines Flight 642 / Summary
caption_attribution_description: English: Track map of Severe Tropical Storm Sam of the 1999 Pacific typhoon season. The points show the location of the storm at 6-hour intervals. The colour represents the storm's maximum sustained wind speeds as classified in the Saffir–Simpson scale (see below), and the shape of the data points represent the nature of the storm, according to the legend below. Saffir–Simpson scale Tropical depression≤38 mph≤62 km/h Category 3111–129 mph178–208 km/h Tropical storm39–73 mph63–118 km/h Category 4130–156 mph209–251 km/h Category 174–95 mph119–153 km/h Category 5≥157 mph≥252 km/h Category 296–110 mph154–177 km/h Unknown Storm type Tropical cyclone Subtropical cyclone Extratropical cyclone / Remnant low / Tropical disturbance / Monsoon depression
context_page_description: China Airlines Flight 642 was a flight that crashed at Hong Kong International Airport on 22 August 1999. It was operating from Bangkok to Taipei with a stopover in Hong Kong.
  The plane, a McDonnell Douglas MD-11, was operated by subsidiary Mandarin Airlines on behalf of China Airlines. While landing during a typhoon, it touched down hard, flipped over and caught fire. Of the 315 people on board, 312 survived and three were killed. It was the first fatal accident to occur at the new Hong Kong International airport since it opened in 1998.
  Flight 642 was one of only two hull losses of MD-11s with passenger configuration, the other being Swissair Flight 111, which crashed in 1998 with 229 fatalities. All other hull losses of MD-11s have been when the aircraft has been serving as a cargo aircraft.
context_section_description: At about 6:43 P.M. local time (1043 UTC) on 22 August 1999, the MD-11 was making its final approach to runway 25L when Tropical Storm Sam was 50 kilometres (31 mi; 27 nmi) NE of the airport. At an altitude of 700 feet (210 m) prior to touchdown a further wind check was reported to the crew: 320 deg/28 knots (52 km/h; 32 mph) gusting to 36 knots (67 km/h; 41 mph). This resulted in a crosswind vector of 26 knots (48 km/h; 30 mph) gusting to 33 knots (61 km/h; 38 mph), while the tested limit for the aircraft was 35 knots (65 km/h; 40 mph).
  During the final flare to land, the plane rolled to the right, landed hard on its right main gear and the No. 3 engine touched the runway. The right wing separated from the fuselage. The aircraft continued to roll over and skidded off the runway in flames. When it stopped, it was on its back and the rear of the plane was on fire, coming to rest on a grass area next to the runway, 3500 ft from the runway threshold. The right wing was found on a taxiway 280 feet (85 m) from the nose of the plane. As shown in photos of the aircraft at rest, the fire caused significant damage to the rear section of the aircraft but was quickly extinguished due to the heavy rain and quick response from rescue teams in the airport.
  Rescue vehicles quickly arrived on the scene and suppressed the fire on and in the vicinity of 
  the aeroplane, allowing rescue of the passengers and crew to progress in very difficult 
  conditions. Two passengers rescued from the wreckage were certified dead on arrival at 
  hospital and one passenger died five days later in hospital. A total of 219 persons, including 
  crewmembers, were admitted to hospital, of whom 50 were seriously injured and 153 
  sustained minor injuries.
  All 15 crew members survived.
caption: track of Tropical Storm Sam
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