Far Eastern Air Transport Flight 103

Not to be confused with Far Eastern Air Transport Flight 104.

Far Eastern Air Transport Flight 103 was a flight from Taiwan Taipei Songshan Airport to Kaohsiung International Airport that crashed on 22 August 1981, killing all 110 people on board. The Boeing 737-222 aircraft disintegrated in midair and crashed in the township of Sanyi, Miaoli. It is also called the Sanyi Air Disaster. The crash is the third-deadliest aviation accident on the Taiwanese soil, behind China Airlines Flight 676 and China Airlines Flight 611.^[1]

The cenotaph of the Far East Air Transport Flight 103 accident

Monument listing the names of the victims

Far Eastern Air Transport Flight 103

The aircraft involved in the accident, while still in service with United Airlines, in 1974
Accident
Date	22 August 1981 (1981-08-22)
Summary	Metal fatigue cracking and severe corrosion, leading to explosive decompression and in-flight break-up
Site	Near Sanyi Township, Miaoli County, Taiwan
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Boeing 737-222
Operator	Far Eastern Air Transport
IATA flight No.	FE103
ICAO flight No.	FEA103
Call sign	FAR EASTERN 103
Registration	B-2603
Flight origin	Taipei Songshan Airport
Destination	Kaohsiung International Airport
Occupants	110
Passengers	102
Crew	8
Fatalities	110
Survivors	0

Aircraft

The aircraft involved was a Boeing 737-222 registered as B-2603 with line number 151 and manufacturer's serial number 19939.^[1]

Summary

The aircraft had previously lost cabin pressure on 5 August; and earlier on the day of the crash, it had departed Songshan Airport, but the crew aborted the flight 10 minutes later for the same reason. After repairs were made, the aircraft departed Songshan Airport again bound for Kaohsiung International Airport. 14 minutes after takeoff, the aircraft suffered an explosive decompression and disintegrated. The wreckage was scattered across an area 4 miles (6 km) long, located some 94 miles (151 km) south of Taipei. The nose section landed in Sanyi Township, Miaoli County. Other debris landed in the townships of Yuanli, Tongluo, and Tongxiao. Of the 110 people on board, one passenger was found alive but died on the way to a hospital; in the end, no one aboard survived.^[2] After the accident, due to it occurring in a mountainous region, road traffic was backed up. The remains of the victims were driven to the Shengxing railway station, from where they were transported by train.^[3]

Cause

Although early speculation indicated that the crash was caused by an explosive device, an investigation by the Republic of China Civil Aeronautics Board concluded that severe corrosion led to a pressure-hull rupture. The severe corrosion was due to the many pressurization flight cycles the aircraft had experienced, and that cracks produced were probably undetected.^[4]

Victims

Nationality	Passengers	Crew	Total
Taiwan	82	8	90
Japan	18	0	18
United States	2	0	2
Total	102	8	110

Notable victims

• Kuniko Mukōda, a Japanese TV screenwriter, was heading to Kaohsiung for a festival.^[5]

See also

• Japan Air Lines Flight 123
• China Airlines Flight 611
• Aloha Airlines Flight 243
• Continental Express Flight 2574
• BOAC Flight 781
• Chalk's Ocean Airways Flight 101