Far Eastern Air Transport Flight 104

Far Eastern Transport Flight 104

Investigators at the wreckage of B-2009.
Accident
Date	February 24, 1969 (1969-02-24)
Summary	Engine failure
Site	Near Tainan City, Taiwan
Aircraft
The Handley Page Dart Herald involved in the accident, seen in June 1966 while still in service with British United Airways
Aircraft type	Handley Page Dart Herald 201
Operator	Far Eastern Air Transport
Registration	B-2009
Flight origin	Kaohsiung International Airport
Destination	Taipei Songshan Airport
Occupants	36
Passengers	32
Crew	4
Fatalities	36
Survivors	0

Far Eastern Air Transport Flight 104 was a short-haul flight from Kaohsiung International Airport to Taipei Songshan Airport, Taiwan, which was operated a Handley Page Dart Herald 201 that crashed on 24 February 1969 upon its approach for an emergency landing in Tainan Airport in Taiwan.^[1]

The aircraft operating flight 104 was a Handley Page Dart Herald 201, MSN 157 and was registered B-2009. The aircraft was manufactured in 1963 at the Radlett Aerodrome in the UK with registration G-APWI. It was then bought by Jersey Airlines, then British United Airways then BUIA. It soon went to be purchased by Far Eastern Air Transport.

On February 24, 1969, the B-2009 aircraft carried out the FE104 flight that ended the Spring Festival holiday and flew from Kaohsiung International Airport to Taipei Songshan Airport. The flight took off at 12:03 pm, after a 13-minute delay from 11:50 am. Ten minutes after take-off, the captain told the Tainan Airport Tower that an engine failure had occurred. The aircraft's port-side engine had failed, leaving its propeller windmilling and the aircraft in a shallow descent. The flight crew decided to divert to Tainan Airport in Tainan City. Moments after receiving clearance for an emergency landing, however, the aircraft passed over a wooded area, belly-landed in a small clearing and skidded into a creek. The aircraft broke into three parts and caught fire, killing all on board.

The crash was believed to have an engine failure mid-flight. The crew failed to feather the propeller that was making high drag, leading it to lose control.