Looking back on China Airlines flight 605

CHINA AIRLINES BOEING 737-8AL B-18663 (MSN 61772)

China Airlines Flight 605, a daily non-stop service from Taipei, Taiwan, (TPE/RCTP) departing at 6:30 a.m. and arriving in Hong Kong (HKG/VHHH) at 7:00 a.m. local time, experienced a runway overrun on the 4th of November 1993, while attempting to land during a storm.

Just minutes prior, a British Airways pilot had declined to approach Kai Tak Runway 13, which the captain of CAL 605 chose to attempt.

The aircraft landed over 2,100 feet (640 m) beyond the runway's displaced threshold at a speed of 150 knots (278 km/h; 173 mph), following an IGS approach to Runway 13. At the time, Typhoon Ira was producing crosswinds of 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph) on the runway, with gusts up to 38 knots (70 km/h; 44 mph) from a heading of 070 degrees.

During the final mile before touchdown, the pilots were alerted by multiple computer-generated wind shear and glide slope deviation warnings and experienced significant airspeed fluctuations. The captain, who was piloting the aircraft, disconnected the autopilot to manually fly the plane and also turned off the auto-throttle due to its unsatisfactory performance. Upon landing, the first officer attempted to maintain the aircraft on the runway centerline, but his excessive inputs required the captain's intervention. Simultaneously, the captain unintentionally increased engine power instead of engaging the thrust reversers. 

The auto-brakes, set to level two, were deactivated seconds after touchdown because of the power increase. The speedbrakes were momentarily deployed but then retracted for the same reason, causing the aircraft to "float" and rendering the brakes ineffective until the speedbrakes were redeployed. When the first officer realized that the auto-brakes were off and the thrust reversers were not engaged, the captain promptly initiated manual braking and thrust reversal.

Realizing the plane would overrun the runway and collide with the approach lighting system for runway 31, the captain intentionally veered left. This maneuver resulted in a "ground loop," causing the aircraft to slide off the runway's left side and into Victoria Harbour. The aircraft eventually stopped in shallow water, facing almost directly opposite the direction of runway 13.

The aircraft involved was a Boeing 747-409 with registration B-165, it was a 5-month-old Boeing 747 manufactured in June 1993. It was powered by four Pratt & Whitney PW4056 turbofan engines and had only logged 1,969 flight hours in 359 takeoff and landing cycles at the time of the accident.

This incident marked the first hull loss of a Boeing 747-400.