Civil Air Transport Flight 106
Curtiss C-46D Commando · Engine failure and loss of control (Disputed)
From Taichung International Airport / Ching Chuang Kang Air Base (RMQ) to Taipei Songshan International Airport (TSA)
Event
- Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
- Accident
- Event fatalities
- 57 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- Occupants
- 57
- Survivors
- 0
- InjuriesFatal: death within 30 days. Serious: over 48 hours in hospital within a week, most broken bones, severe bleeding, nerve or organ damage, or serious burns. Minor: anything less. Glossary
- Unknown
- OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
- Airline
Curtiss C-46D Commando
- Aircraft type
- Curtiss C-46
- Category
- Airplane · from aircraft type
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- B-908
- Operator
- Civil Air Transport
- Onboard fatalities
- 57
- Route
- From Taichung International Airport / Ching Chuang Kang Air Base (RMQ)To Taipei Songshan International Airport (TSA)
Cause areas
- Aircraft › Aircraft power plant
- Personnel issues › Task performance
From the investigation findings the Wikipedia article reports, sorted into the NTSB's cause areas with AI assistance.
Not plotted · Not plotted: the Wikipedia article gives no coordinates, and its site names no town or airport that matches exactly.
From the Wikipedia article
Civil Air Transport Flight 106 was a Curtiss C-46D Commando, registration number B-908 (C/N 32950), that crashed on 20 June 1964, near the village of Shenkang, western Taiwan, killing all 57 people aboard. Flight 106 was operated by Civil Air Transport, a front company operated by the CIA, en route from Taichung Airport to Taipei-Sung Shan Airport.
The accident
Shortly after take-off from Taichung, the number one engine oversped. The pilot began a left turn to perform an emergency landing at the airport or a nearby military air base. While turning, the pilot lost control and the aircraft crashed in a left wing low and a steep nose down attitude.
Investigation and cause
Causes
The Taiwanese CAA concluded that the primary cause of the accident was the failure of the #1 engine, compounded by pilot error during attempts at recovery while returning to Taichung Airport (later renamed Shuinan Airport and now closed) or Taichung Air Base.
However, this conclusion was disputed by Civil Air Transport, in favor of a theory of passenger hijacking.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Civil Air Transport Flight 106” (revision 1339306479, retrieved 2026-09-18) by its authors, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Extracted as plain text: references, tables, images and some sections are left out. Read the article
Sources
Wikipedia article: Civil Air Transport Flight 106
- Revision
- 1339306479 · 2026-02-19 · retrieved 2026-09-18
- Wikidata
- Q5124398
- Licence
- Text CC BY-SA 4.0, by the article's authors; Wikidata CC0; town positions GeoNames (CC BY 4.0)
Where each value comes from
- Record
- Wikipedia article "Civil Air Transport Flight 106" (page 31979406, revision 1339306479)
- Date
- Wikipedia infobox: date
- Place and country
- Wikipedia infobox: site
- Map position
- none
- Aircraft, operator and route
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft type, registration, operator, origin and destination; route airports from the linked airport articles' Wikidata codes (OurAirports)
- Operation
- flight number in the article title
- Fatalities
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft fatalities
- Ground fatalities
- not stated in the Wikipedia infobox
- Summary
- Wikipedia infobox: summary
Source notes (1)
- Wikipedia · Facts from the Wikipedia article's infobox and coordinates, not checked against an investigation report. Independent review pending.