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Civil Air Transport Flight 10 was a passenger flight from the now-closed
Kai Tak Airport Kai Tak Airport was an international airport of Hong Kong from 1925 until 1998. Officially known as Hong Kong International Airport from 1954 to 6 July 1998, it is often referred to as Hong Kong International Airport, Kai Tak, or simply K ...
in
Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...
to
Songshan Airport Taipei Songshan Airport is a city airport and military airbase located in Songshan District, Taipei, Taiwan. The airport covers an area of . The civilian section of Songshan Airport has scheduled flights to domestic destinations in Taiwan a ...
in
Taipei , nickname = The City of Azaleas , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Taiwan#Asia#Pacific Ocean#Earth , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country ...
,
Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...
. The flight CT-010 was operated by a
Boeing 727-92C The Boeing 727 is an American narrow-body airliner that was developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. After the heavier 707 quad-jet was introduced in 1958, Boeing addressed the demand for shorter flight lengths from smaller airp ...
with registration B-1018. On 16 February 1968, the aircraft crashed into Hunan village in Linkou Township,
Taipei , nickname = The City of Azaleas , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Taiwan#Asia#Pacific Ocean#Earth , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country ...
County (now
Linkou District Linkou District () is a District (Taiwan), district in the northwestern part of New Taipei City in northern Taiwan. The name "Linkou" translates to "forest mouth"; in fact, for much of its history, Linkou remained a relatively rural and undevel ...
,
New Taipei City New Taipei City is a Special municipality (Taiwan), special municipality located in regions of Taiwan, northern Taiwan. The city is home to an estimated population of 4,004,367 as of January 2023, making it the most populous city in Taiwan, a ...
), killing 21 people on board as well as one person on the ground. 42 people were injured.


Accident

On the evening of 16 February 1968, B-1018 was flying from Hong Kong to Taipei Songshan Airport under the command of captain Stuart E. Dew and captain Hugh Hicks. Taipei's approach control cleared Flight 10 for an ILS approach and then transferred the flight to the tower control. The direction and heading of the plane were normal, and the weather was clear, until Captain Hicks suddenly noticed the aircraft's altitude had dropped too low. He pushed the
throttle A throttle is a mechanism by which fluid flow is managed by construction or obstruction. An engine's power can be increased or decreased by the restriction of inlet gases (by the use of a throttle), but usually decreased. The term ''throttle'' ha ...
s in an attempt to perform a
go-around In aviation, a go-around is an aborted landing of an aircraft that is on Final_approach_(aeronautics), final approach or has already touched down. A go-around can either be initiated by the pilot flying or requested by air traffic control for var ...
. As the plane touched ground, the
flight recorder A flight recorder is an electronic recording device placed in an aircraft for the purpose of facilitating the investigation of aviation accidents and incidents. The device may often be referred to colloquially as a "black box", an outdated nam ...
recorded Captain Dew screaming: "Go to hell!" The aircraft then crashed into houses and burst into flames. Firefighters from Songshan Airport and the U.S. military personnel from Shu Lin Kou Air Station nearby assisted in the rescue. In the end, 21 of the 63 people on the aircraft were killed, along with one farmer on the ground.


Investigation

Taiwan's Civil Aeronautics Administration released the final report on 4 March. It concluded that the cause of the accident was due to pilot error, stating that: * The aircraft functioned normally; * Weather was normal; * Pilots who landed at Songshan reported that the ILS was working; * There were no communication problems with
air traffic control Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled air ...
.


Aftermath

The 727 involved was leased from
Southern Air Transport Southern Air Transport (SAT), based in Miami, Florida, was, in its final incarnation, a cargo airline. However, it started life as an irregular air carrier (later known as a supplemental air carrier), a type of carrier defined and tightly contr ...
, and was Civil Air Transport's only aircraft that flew international routes. The crash resulted in the demise of the airline. International flights were taken over by
China Airlines China Airlines (CAL; zh, t=中華航空, poj=Tiong-hôa Hâng-khong, p=Zhōnghuá Hángkōng, first=t, c=, s=) is the state-owned flag carrier of the Taiwan, Republic of China (Taiwan). It is one of Taiwan's two major airlines, along with E ...
, and Civil Air Transport ceased operations in 1975. Exactly 30 years after this accident,
China Airlines Flight 676 China Airlines Flight 676 was a scheduled international passenger flight. On 16 February 1998, the Airbus A300 jet airliner operating the flight crashed into a road and residential area in Tayuan, Taoyuan County (now Taoyuan City), near Chian ...
, a flight from
Bali Bali (English:; Balinese language, Balinese: ) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller o ...
,
Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...
to Taipei, crashed in Dayuan Township, Taoyuan County, (now
Dayuan District Dayuan District (; Taiwanese: Tuā-hn̂g-khu), formerly known as Dayuan Township (; Taiwanese: Tuā-hn̂g-hiong) is a coastal district in northwestern Taoyuan City, Taiwan. History Dayuan District was originally named ''Toa-khu-hng'' (), litera ...
,
Taoyuan City Taoyuan () is a special municipality located in northwestern Taiwan, neighboring New Taipei City to the north-east, Yilan County to the south-east, and Hsinchu County to the south-west. Taoyuan District is the seat of the municipal gove ...
) killing 203 people (all 196 on board and seven more on the ground).


Changes

Since the air traffic control radar at the time did not track the altitude of the aircraft, it was impossible to understand why Flight 10 suddenly dropped in altitude. It was only after the crash of
Eastern Air Lines Flight 401 Eastern Air Lines Flight 401 was a scheduled flight from John F. Kennedy International Airport in Queens, New York, United States, to Miami International Airport in Miami, Florida, United States. Shortly before midnight on December 29, 1972, the ...
on 29 December 1972, in Miami, USA, that the Federal Aviation Administration began to introduce improved radar systems that displayed a flight's altitude.


References

{{coord missing, Taiwan Accidents and incidents involving the Boeing 727 History of New Taipei Airliner accidents and incidents involving controlled flight into terrain Aviation accidents and incidents in 1968 Airliner accidents and incidents caused by pilot error Aviation accidents and incidents in Taiwan 1968 in Taiwan Civil Air Transport accidents and incidents 1968 disasters in Taiwan