China Airlines Flight 006
aviation accident
China Airlines Flight 006 was a daily non-stop international passenger flight from Taipei to Los Angeles International Airport. On February 19, 1985, the Boeing 747SP operating the flight was involved in an aircraft upset accident, following the failure of the No. 4 engine, while cruising at 41,000 ft (12,000 m). The plane rolled over and plunged 31,500 ft (10,000 m), experiencing high speeds and g-forces (as high as 5 g) before the captain was able to recover from the dive, and then after noting damage, diverted to San Francisco International Airport. Twenty-four occupants were injured, two of them seriously.
Accident
The aircraft had departed from Taipei at 16:22 Taiwan Standard Time. The accident occurred 10 hours into the flight. The Boeing 747SP-09 was 350 miles (560 km) northwest of San Francisco, cruising at an altitude of 41,000 ft (12,000 m). The cockpit crew consisted of Captain Min-Yuan Ho, age 55; First Officer Ju-Yu Chang, age 53; Flight Engineer Kuo-Pin Wei, age 55; Relief Captain Chien-Yuan Liao, age 53; and Relief Flight Engineer Po-Chae Su, age 41. The captain had approximately 15,500 flight hours, including 3,748 hours on the Boeing 747.
The public source identifies “China Airlines Flight 006” as aviation accident. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around China, Airlines and Flight.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “China Airlines Flight 006”, the useful work is to connect “aviation accident” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 12, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q703762. Authority coordinates are 32.544, -116.966. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1985.
A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “China Airlines Flight 006”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow China Airlines Flight 006 primary sources, China Airlines Flight 006 archive and China research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “China Airlines Flight 006”?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “China Airlines Flight 006” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.