The captain speaks.....
Sunday, February 6, 2005 · Last updated 7:42 a.m. PT
Pilot in fatal 1999 China Airlines crash blames Boeing plane
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
HONG KONG -- The pilot on a 1999 China Airlines flight that flipped on
landing here and killed three people blames the Boeing plane for the
accident and says politics prompted the government report that found him at
fault, a newspaper reported Sunday.
"There is a problem with that aircraft - ask any pilot and they will say the
same," Gerardo Lettich was quoted by the South China Morning Post as saying
about the Boeing MD-11 he piloted.
Lettich, 63, said declining MD-11 sales are proof it is problematic, the
Post reported.
"In reality, the industry delivered its own verdict, because the MD-11 has
disappeared from the aircraft market. This was the real condemnation,"
Lettich was quoted as saying from his home in Italy.
A Hong Kong government report released Friday said Lettich failed to control
the plane's rapid rate of descent as it landed during a tropical storm with
300 people aboard.
The aircraft tilted to the right, its right wing clipping the runway and
rupturing the wing's fuel tank, sparking an explosion, the report said. The
accident killed three and seriously injured 50 people.
Hong Kong-based Boeing Co. spokesman Mark Hooper said the company deferred
to the government report and declined further comment.
Taiwanese carrier China Airlines says weather was a main cause of the
accident. The airline has one of the worst safety records in the world, with
10 fatal crashes since 1970.
Lettich said in his interview with the Post that he was made the scapegoat
because no one was willing to take on Boeing.
"It was all down to the balance of power. On one side there was China
Airlines and me. On the other side was the Hong Kong authority, and more
importantly, Boeing. It was very, very important for Boeing not be put on
trial," he was quoted as saying.