China Eastern Airlines Flight 5398

China Eastern Airlines Flight 5398

The aircraft involved in the accident in CAAC colors, seen in Hong Kong in February 1986.
Accident summary
Date October 26, 1993
Summary Crash on approach due to bad weather conditions
Site Fuzhou, Fujian, China
Passengers 71
Crew 9
Injuries (non-fatal) 10
Fatalities 2
Survivors 78
Aircraft type McDonnell Douglas MD-82
Operator China Eastern Airlines
Registration B-2103

China Eastern Airlines Flight 5398 (MU5398) was a McDonnell Douglas MD-82 airliner from Shenzhen's Bao'an International Airport to Fuzhou Yixu Airport in Fujian, China. On October 26, 1993, it crashed on approach to Fuzhou Yixu Airport. The aircraft overran the runway while landing in heavy rain and high winds. Two of the 80 passengers and crew on board were killed.[1]

Event summary

On October 26, 1993, 11:50am, Flight MU5398 took off from Shenzhen airport and scheduled to land 12:50pm at Fuzhou airport. At 12:32pm, the crew contacted tower in Fuzhou airport preparing for landing. It was rainy, and the visibility was 4 km. The crew approached without having good vision of the runway, resulted in server deviation to the right of the runway. The crew did not abort the landing and go-around, but tried to correct the course while keep descending. Until 1 km to the touch point, only 20m above the ground, did the crew decide to go around. But the aircraft kept losing altitude, and its tail struck the runway before the aircraft overran and stopped at a pond. The fuselage broke into 3 pieces. Two people were killed and ten more injured.[2]

Later investigation revealed that the crew of Flight MU5398 violated the approaching protocol at Fuzhou airport, and did not cooperate well with the air traffic controller. The cause of this accident is pilot error.[2]

After the event

China Eastern Airlines continues to use Flight number MU5398, but it has changed to the route from Nanning Wuxu International Airport to Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport, served by Airbus A321.[3]

Fuzhou Yixu Airport was built in 1944 as a military airport. From 1974 it served for both civilian and military use, and had operated many domestic and international air lines. Due to the runway length in Fuzhou Yixu Airport and the increasing air traffic, new civilian airport was proposed in 1991. On Jun 23, 1997, Fuzhou Changle International Airport opened for operation. Fuzhou Yixu Airport returned to military use only.[4][5]

Registration number B-2103 was later assigned to another MD-90 aircraft in 2000, operated under China Northern Airlines. It continued to operate under China Southern Airlines when China Northern Airline merged to China Southern Airlines in 2002. In 2010, this MD-90 was traded to Delta Air Lines and the registration number B-2103 ceased to use.[6]

References

See also

Coordinates: 26°00′16″N 119°18′45″E / 26.00444°N 119.31250°E / 26.00444; 119.31250

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