China Airlines Flight 006 was a daily non-stop 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 (12,500 m). The plane rolled over and plunged 30,000 ft (9,100 m), experiencing high speeds and g-forces before the captain was able to recover from the dive, and then to divert to San Francisco International Airport.

The Boeing 747SP is a shortened version of the Boeing 747 wide-body airliner, designed for a longer range. It is the highest flying subsonic passenger airliner, with a service ceiling of 45,100 feet . Boeing needed a smaller aircraft to compete with the McDonnell Douglas DC-10 and Lockheed L-1011 TriStar tri-jet wide-bodies, introduced in 1971/1972. Pan Am requested a 747-100 derivative to fly between New York and the Middle East, a request also shared by Iran Air, and the first order came from Pan Am in 1973.