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McDonnell Douglas MD-90-30 accident report

McDonnell Douglas MD-90-30 | Uni Air | B-17912 | Flight 873 | black clouds pouring out a burning MD-90-30 on the runway covered with foam at Hualien airport 24 August 1999

Tuesday 24 August 1999 Uni Air McDonnel Douglas MD-90-30 B-17912 c/n 53536

Flight 873 from Taipei (TSA) to Hualien (HUN), Taiwan with 6 crew and 90 passengers. As the MD-90 touched down following a 25-minute flight from Taipei, there was a loud noise from the front of the cabin and thick black smoke poured from one of the overhead luggage compartments on the right hand side of the plane. Insulation and charred luggage littered the runway. Passengers were swiftly evacuated, but it took firefighters more than half an hour to control the fire. Preliminary investigation reports in 1999 indicated that the blast was caused by two bottles of household bleach. However, the Hualien District Court judges decided the bottles contained gasoline. According to the judges, Ku Chin-shui had put the gasoline into two plastic bleach bottles and gave them to his nephew. The gasoline leaked during the flight and exploded when it caused a short-circuit in a motorbike battery in a nearby overhead luggage compartment.

First flight : 1996 Airframe hrs : 4929 cycles : 7736 engines : IAE V2525-D5. No one died in the accident but 28 people got injured. location : +- 250m 24°01’25”N 121°37’01”E

McDonnell Douglas MD-90-30 accident table

There have been no fatalities with the MD-90-30 in its service life, a remarkable feat.

Literature :

Accident Archives | Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives (baaa-acro.com)

ASN Aircraft accident McDonnell Douglas MD-90-30 B-17912 Hualien Airport (HUN) (aviation-safety.net)