Airbus fuel emergency - around 1986 (I think…)
 

I am seeking detail on an inflight emergency that has been related to me by a passenger on the flight. The passenger has significant electronics expertise (railroad industry) but is not aviation-oriented.

The incident occurred some time in 1986 (he thinks… please don't ask me how one doesn't have good recall of something like this, but in his defence, he WAS travelling intensely in those days!). He was outbound from China (Beijing, I believe) for a US port aboard an Airbus (doesn't recall the airline). Long story short… at some point early in the flight (luckily!) things went very quiet and and the outcome was a double engine-out forced landing at a Taiwanese air base. All pax and crew were held in a hanger until a relief flight (a Japanese airline, I think) arrived to pick them up. During the 'hanger layover' my friend approached the flight crew to discuss the incident and they stated that the problem had been caused by a fuel management design fault (my words… from my friends' recollection) with the Airbus.

Anybody have knowledge of or insight into this incident?

Cheers, D & W