WIKI:

AIRCRAFT:

The aircraft that crashed was a Boeing 737-209, registration B-180, having first flown on 3 December 1986 and was delivered to the airline 2 weeks later.

FATALITIES:

(47 PASSENGER 7 CREW)

CAUSE:

The major cause of the crash was pilot error, with the crew, consisting of an experienced pilot (15 years with China Airlines) and a novice co-pilot, taking off from the wrong runway, compounded by ground control, who failed to spot the error. The aircraft then flew the climbout procedure for the runway that the flight was planned to use, resulting in the aircraft making a left turn towards the mountains rather than a right turn towards the sea.

ACCIDENT:

Flight 204 took off from Hualien Airport on a short haul domestic flight to Chiang Kai-shek International Airport (renamed Taoyuan International Airport in 2004) on the island of Taiwan.[2] On board the Boeing 737 were 47 passengers and 7 crew. Ten minutes after take-off the aircraft, having reached a height of 7,000 ft (2,100 m) collided with a mountain, part of the Chiashan mountain range, 5.5 km (3.4 mi) north of the airport. All 54 passengers and crew on board were killed.