A China Airlines flight from Ho Chi Minh City to the US via Taipei was forced to land at Kaohsiung International Airport yesterday after a reportedly drunken passenger broke a window and attacked flight attendants.
In a statement, China Airlines said a Vietnamese-American man identified as Danh Quinh Suot, 32, assaulted attendants and broke a window next to a seat with his elbow, prompting the plane's captain to request that the flight be diverted for safety reasons.
According to Lee Chung-rong (
PHOTO: HUANG CHI-YUAN, TAIPEI TIMES
The procedure, Lee said, was appropriate for the occasion.
Danh was drunk, the airline said, adding that no other passengers were injured in the incident.
Upon the Airbus 330's arrival in Kaohiung, both Danh and his wife were taken off the plane by aviation police for questioning.
Danh was arrested for allegedly threatening aviation safety.
Aviation police at Kaohsiung airport said that they found medication used to treat mental illness among Danh's belongings while they were questioning him.
Police later took him to a local hospital for medical and psychological examinations. Danh was accompanied by representatives from the American Institute in Taiwan, Kaohsiung Office.
The initial investigation by police found that Dahn was mentally unstable when he broke an inside window pane.
They turned over the case to the Kaohsiung District Prosecutors Office for further investigation.
Meanwhile, the China Airlines plane, flight 682, spent about two hours on the ground in Kaohsiung before continuing on to Taipei. It took off from Kaohisung around 5pm and arrived at the CKS International Airport at 5:51pm. The flight was supposed to have arrived at 3:15pm.
Family members of passengers were anxious and upset about the delay and complained that China Airlines had not immediately informed them about the incident and the diversion to Kaohsiung.
CAL spokesman Johnson Sun (孫鴻文) said the company regretted the inconvenience caused to the flight's passengers as well as the personnel in the Kaohsiung airport.
Sun emphasized that yesterday's diversion had been a flight safety issue.
"The average window is double-layered, so safety will not be threatened,'' he said.
He said passengers were not allowed to board flights if they were determined to be intoxicated or if they were mentally unstable, but airlines cannot stop someone from boarding if they do not show outward signs of impairment.
Fang Yueh-chiang (
"This was a case of an unruly passenger in the cabin," Fang said, "His behavior did not lead to a plane crash, so there is no need for us to investigate."
According to the Civil Aviation Act (
WAITING GAME: The US has so far only offered a ‘best rate tariff,’ which officials assume is about 15 percent, the same as Japan, a person familiar with the matter said Taiwan and the US have completed “technical consultations” regarding tariffs and a finalized rate is expected to be released soon, Executive Yuan spokeswoman Michelle Lee (李慧芝) told a news conference yesterday, as a 90-day pause on US President Donald Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs is set to expire today. The two countries have reached a “certain degree of consensus” on issues such as tariffs, nontariff trade barriers, trade facilitation, supply chain resilience and economic security, Lee said. They also discussed opportunities for cooperation, investment and procurement, she said. A joint statement is still being negotiated and would be released once the US government has made
NEW GEAR: On top of the new Tien Kung IV air defense missiles, the military is expected to place orders for a new combat vehicle next year for delivery in 2028 Mass production of Tien Kung IV (Sky Bow IV) missiles is expected to start next year, with plans to order 122 pods, the Ministry of National Defense’s (MND) latest list of regulated military material showed. The document said that the armed forces would obtain 46 pods of the air defense missiles next year and 76 pods the year after that. The Tien Kung IV is designed to intercept cruise missiles and ballistic missiles to an altitude of 70km, compared with the 60km maximum altitude achieved by the Missile Segment Enhancement variant of PAC-3 systems. A defense source said yesterday that the number of
Taiwanese exports to the US are to be subject to a 20 percent tariff starting on Thursday next week, according to an executive order signed by US President Donald Trump yesterday. The 20 percent levy was the same as the tariffs imposed on Vietnam, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh by Trump. It was higher than the tariffs imposed on Japan, South Korea and the EU (15 percent), as well as those on the Philippines (19 percent). A Taiwan official with knowledge of the matter said it is a "phased" tariff rate, and negotiations would continue. "Once negotiations conclude, Taiwan will obtain a better
FLOOD RECOVERY: “Post-Typhoon Danas reconstruction special act” is expected to be approved on Thursday, the premier said, adding the flood control in affected areas would be prioritized About 200cm of rainfall fell in parts of southern Taiwan from Monday last week to 9am yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Kaohsiung’s Taoyuan District (桃源) saw total rainfall of 2,205mm, while Pingtung County’s Sandimen Township (三地門) had 2,060.5mm and Tainan’s Nanhua District (南化) 1,833mm, according to CWA data. Meanwhile, Alishan (阿里山) in Chiayi County saw 1,688mm of accumulated rain and Yunlin County’s Caoling (草嶺) had 1,025mm. The Pingtung County Government said that 831 local residents have been pre-emptively evacuated from mountainous areas. A total of 576 are staying with relatives in low-lying areas, while the other 255 are in shelters. CWA forecaster
RSS