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Photograph shows a Mandarin Airlines flight taxiing past the charred remains of a crashed airliner?

Published Jan. 10, 2005

Claim:
Photograph shows a Mandarin Airlines flight taxiing past the charred remains of a crashed airliner.

This is a genuine photograph depicting the aftermath of Mandarin Airlines Flight 642 from Bangkok to Hong Kong, which crashed upon landing on 22 August 1999. The plane, an MD-11, encountered a 24-knot crosswind coincident with Typhoon Sam and came down too hard on its right side, causing the No. 3 engine to hit the runway and the right wing to separate from the fuselage. The MD-11 rolled over and slid off the runway upside down, bursting into flame and grinding to a halt on a grassy area adjacent to the runway.

Remarkably, there were only three fatalities among of the 300 passengers and 15 crew members aboard the flight.

David Mikkelson founded the site now known as snopes.com back in 1994.

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