Like any commuter flight on a normal weekday, Mandarin Airlines Flight AE1261, on a Fokker FK-100 plane, was expected to land at Kinmen Airport yesterday morning safely and on time.
The flight, carrying five crew members and 53 passengers, took off shortly before 7am from Taipei Songshan Airport and landed in Kinmen at 7:45am.
However, not everything that was supposed to be on the aircraft arrived in Kinmen.
Unbeknownst to the crew, one of the tires on the plane's rear left landing gear was missing.
The discovery was made by the maintenance crew based in Kinmen.
It was later retrieved at Taipei Songshan Airport.
Mandarin Airlines said it would investigate the incident. It temporarily grounded the plane in Kinmen, forcing 23 passengers booked on the return flight to catch a Uni Air flight.
Last night Mandarin issued an official statement saying that the plane had been flown to its maintenance facility in Taichung.
The airline said it would conduct comprehensive inspections on all six of its Fokker planes.
It also suspended the maintenance worker who helped change the tire on Monday.
The Aviation Safety Council said it would not investigate the incident because no one was hurt and the plane was not damaged.
Civil Aeronautics Administration, Director-General Billy Chang (
The discovery forced the airport to shut down for 10 minutes.
"It's still too early to talk about penalty or punishment at this point," Chang said.
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