Excerpted from the June 6
Taipei Times
Data show flight CI611 broke up during ascent
With the assistance of data provided by China, authorities have also
concluded that the plane's speed and heading were highly erratic before
the accident.
Chinese radar data given to Taiwan has helped confirm that the
ill-fated China Airlines flight CI611 broke into four pieces during
its ascent, an official from the Aviation Safety Council said yesterday.
Council Managing Director Yong Kay (¦¥³Í) yesterday confirmed
that the plane broke apart at an altitude of between 10,360m and
11,250m and that the aircraft's speed and heading were highly
erratic in the moments before the disaster.
"The data are very consistent. It shows the plane had not
reached cruising altitude when the accident occurred,'' said
Yong.
"Before today, we thought that the plane had actually reached its
cruising altitude -- which is at about 10,668m."
Meanwhile, radar information provided by Beijing's Chinese Civil
Aeronautics Administration shows that the aircraft flew at varying
speeds and in the wrong direction two minutes before it hit the
water. Taiwan's radar systems failed to register this data, officials
said.
"To sum up the information that we have, we can confirm that the
aircraft broke into four pieces. According to the radar data, one
piece of the debris reached a height of 11,250m after the plane
broke up" Yong said.
"In addition, Chinese radar information shows that the plane
briefly flew at the wrong speed and in the wrong direction before
it crashed. Unfortunately, we do need the `black boxes' -- the
flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder -- to confirm
our observations."
Yong said radar data shows that it took approximately 1 minute
and 40 seconds for the biggest and heaviest debris to fall into the
sea and 1 hour and 30 minutes for the lightest piece to "float"
down and finally land.
After the crash, Tainan radar recorded unidentified material
"floating" in the air and finally disappearing above Changhua
County.
Aircraft passengers' belongings, found by investigators in the
Changhua area, confirm the radar information.
Last edited by bblank; 6th Jun 2002 at 06:34.