Minister of Transportation and Communications Yeh Chu-lan (
Yeh made the confirmation in the legislature during interpellation by KMT lawmaker Chen Chin-pao (
"Has any of Taiwan's airlines reinstituted the practice of placing security officers aboard aircraft, since there is much information indicating that Taiwan is a possible terrorist target?" Chen asked as he inquired about Taiwan airlines' preparedness in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the US.
Oliver Yu (
"Air marshals are being installed on flights on major international routes but they are probably unnecessary on domestic routes as Taiwan is not directly involved in the war against terrorists," Yu said.
The airlines confirmed air marshals are being deployed only on US- and Canada-bound flights.
Yu said, however, that the CAA has prohibited air marshals from carrying guns. "The officers can only carry stun weapons. As with the debate on flight safety in other countries, the CAA has to take into consideration the possibility that hijackers might rob the air marshals of their guns and that flying bullets can also damage aircraft, endangering flights."
The CAA said that the decision whether to deploy air marshals on flights was a matter purely for the airlines. "It involves budgetary and human resources concerns," Yu said.
Until 1993, the government required airlines to place security officers on flights out of concern that aircraft might be hijacked to China while cross-strait relations remained highly confrontational.
Since Oct. 1, about 90 CAL flight attendants who previously served as air marshals have resumed their former roles, said Paul Wang, the airline's spokesman. They were all members of military or police forces before joining the airline.
Flights carrying air marshals are equipped with the "necessary tools" to fight hijackers, Wang said.
Wang said extending the deployment of air marshals to flights on routes other than those to the US and Canada was currently impossible because of the lack of qualified personnel.
Nieh Kuo-wei (聶國維), a spokesman for EVA Airways, confirmed that the airline began the deployment of air marshals on Canada- and US-bound flights in mid-September as a precaution against terrorist attacks.
Like Wang, he said that deploying air marshals on other routes was not possible because of the lack of qualified personnel.
One of two tropical depressions that formed off Taiwan yesterday morning could turn into a moderate typhoon by the weekend, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Tropical Depression No. 21 formed at 8am about 1,850km off the southeast coast, CWA forecaster Lee Meng-hsuan (李孟軒) said. The weather system is expected to move northwest as it builds momentum, possibly intensifying this weekend into a typhoon, which would be called Mitag, Lee said. The radius of the storm is expected to reach almost 200km, she said. It is forecast to approach the southeast of Taiwan on Monday next week and pass through the Bashi Channel
WARNING: People in coastal areas need to beware of heavy swells and strong winds, and those in mountainous areas should brace for heavy rain, the CWA said The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday issued sea and land warnings for Typhoon Ragasa, forecasting that it would continue to intensify and affect the nation the most today and tomorrow. People in Hualien and Taitung counties, and mountainous areas in Yilan and Pingtung counties, should brace for damage caused by extremely heavy rain brought by the typhoon’s outer rim, as it was upgraded to a super typhoon yesterday morning, the CWA said. As of 5:30pm yesterday, the storm’s center was about 630km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving northwest at 21kph, and its maximum wind speed had reached
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said that it expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Ragasa this morning and a land warning at night as it approached Taiwan. Ragasa intensified from a tropical storm into a typhoon at 8am yesterday, the CWA said, adding that at 2pm, it was about 1,110km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip. The typhoon was moving northwest at 13kph, with sustained winds of up to 119kph and gusts reaching 155kph, the CWA Web site showed. Forecaster Liu Pei-teng (劉沛滕) said that Ragasa was projected to strengthen as it neared the Bashi Channel, with its 200km
PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENTS: Hualien and Taitung counties declared today a typhoon day, while schools and offices in parts of Kaohsiung and Pingtung counties are also to close Typhoon Ragasa was forecast to hit its peak strength and come closest to Taiwan from yesterday afternoon through today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Taiwan proper could be out of the typhoon’s radius by midday and the sea warning might be lifted tonight, it added. CWA senior weather specialist Wu Wan-hua (伍婉華) said that Ragasa’s radius had reached the Hengchun Peninsula by 11am yesterday and was expected to hit Taitung County and Kaohsiung by yesterday evening. Ragasa was forecast to move to Taiwan’s southern offshore areas last night and to its southwestern offshore areas early today, she added. As of 8pm last night,
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