A China Airlines Boeing 737-800 airliner burst into flames yesterday moments after landing on the Japanese island of Okinawa after all 165 passengers and crew made a dramatic escape.
Flames and giant plumes of black smoke erupted from the jet just after it landed at Naha Airport after a flight from Taipei.
"When we looked out the window, everything was covered with fire," an unidentified male passenger told reporters.
PHOTO: AP
"I saw several passengers evacuate the plane using a chute. After a minute or so, I heard the sound of an explosion. It was a big explosion," said Tadahiro Hasuo, who told Japanese TV network NHK he felt the heat of the blast while passing Naha airport in a taxi.
Video shot by an eyewitness and broadcast on TV showed passengers sliding down two chutes on the right side of the plane, while flames and thick black smoke billowed from the left.
Early investigations in Okinawa raised the possibility that leaking fuel may have caused the blaze.
PHOTO: AP
"We don't have any information that suggests the accident was linked to terrorism. There is a possibility of the engine catching fire and exploding due to a fuel leak," a Naha airport police official said.
One member of the ground crew had been injured, Kyodo news agency reported.
The flight landed using standard procedures and taxied to the designated gate, China Airlines spokesman Johnson Sun (孫鴻文) said at a news conference. The captain was later informed by the ground crew that one of the plane's engines was on fire and all 157 passengers and eight crew members were immediately evacuated by the emergency chutes, Sun said.
PHOTO: EPA
"We are very sorry and regret the accident," he said.
Following the explosion, the Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) and Aviation Safety Council (ASC) held press conferences in Taipei to assuage public fears.
CAA Director-General Billy Chang (張國政) said that based on Taiwan's Aviation Occurrence Investigation Act (飛航事故調查法), the authority to investigate the accident lay in Japan's Aircrafts and Railway Accidents Investigation Commission (ARAIC).
Nonetheless, the administration has formed a special task force and immediately dispatched three CAA officials to Japan to assist officials from the ARAIC in the investigation.
Chang said that the nation had 15 Boeing 737-800 model planes, 12 of which are owned by China Airlines, including the plane that burned in Okinawa. Two belong to Mandarin Airlines and one, Air Force One, is owned by the Air Force. He said that these planes had been grounded by the CAA for further inspection.
Chang said the plane that had caught fire was only five years old and had just completed its routine maintenance on July 13. He said that a preliminary investigation showed the flight's captain was informed by ground staff about the fire after the plane landed at the airport.
Meanwhile, four ASC representatives arrived at Okinawa yesterday evening to start working with ARAIC and China Airline representatives to identify the cause of the explosion.
China Airlines, Taiwan's largest carrier, purchased the B737-800 passenger jet in July 2002. The company uses the B737-800s in its fleet to fly mainly short-haul Asian routes.
James Fang (方粵強), the director of the ASC's investigation department, told the Taipei Times that this type of incident had never occurred in the past.
Most of the Taiwanese passengers on the plane had been on package tours arranged by four travel agencies in Taiwan -- South East Travel Service (東南旅行社), Gloria Tours (喜美旅行社), Daiei Travel Service (大榮旅行社) and Mic Travel Co (萬達旅行社). Their luggage was destroyed in the fire.
China Airlines said it would compensate passengers NT$1,000 per kilogram of luggage, with a maximum compensation of NT$20,000 in accordance with civil aviation regulations. Compensation for the passengers' mental suffering had not been decided.
China Airlines has a patchy safety record and this is the carrier's fourth accident in 13 years.
After devoting huge resources to improving safety and regaining public confidence, the company was starting to see some positive results.
Despite high aviation fuel costs, the company posted a net income of NT$738.35 million (US$22.5 million), or NT$0.20 per share, last year. Company chairman Philip Wei (魏幸雄) said its operating costs were lower because of a lower insurance premium, which was 45 percent less than what the carrier used to pay, because of its better flight safety record.
But the carrier is once again under fire over the accident in Okinawa. The airlines' already ailing finances will be also affected by the loss. For the first quarter of the year, the carrier reported a loss of NT$805.83 billion, or negative NT$0.21 per share.
Following the accident, China Airlines president Ringo Chao (趙國帥) led a team to Okinawa.
During a press briefing last night, Chao said he regretted the accident and appreciated the aid offered by Japanese authorities.
Chao also said the company was uncertain of the cause of the explosion and would rely on the findings of investigators.
The last accident involving China Airlines was on May 25, 2002, when a Boeing 747-200 broke up and crashed into the sea near the Penghu Islands 20 minutes after takeoff from Taipei on a flight to Hong Kong. The crash caused the death of all 206 passengers and 19 crew members.
Meanwhile, the Air Force yesterday said that it would carry out stricter maintenance on Air Force One, which is also a 737-800.
"Because of a request from the Civil Aeronautics Administration, we will carry out a special detailed check on the aircraft as soon as possible," said Lieutenant General Jason Liu (
Additional reporting by Jimmy Chuang
FREEDOM OF NAVIGATION: The UK would continue to reinforce ties with Taiwan ‘in a wide range of areas’ as a part of a ‘strong unofficial relationship,’ a paper said The UK plans to conduct more freedom of navigation operations in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea, British Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs David Lammy told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. British Member of Parliament Desmond Swayne said that the Royal Navy’s HMS Spey had passed through the Taiwan Strait “in pursuit of vital international freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.” Swayne asked Lammy whether he agreed that it was “proper and lawful” to do so, and if the UK would continue to carry out similar operations. Lammy replied “yes” to both questions. The
‘OF COURSE A COUNTRY’: The president outlined that Taiwan has all the necessary features of a nation, including citizens, land, government and sovereignty President William Lai (賴清德) discussed the meaning of “nation” during a speech in New Taipei City last night, emphasizing that Taiwan is a country as he condemned China’s misinterpretation of UN Resolution 2758. The speech was the first in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. It is the responsibility of Taiwanese citizens to stand united to defend their national sovereignty, democracy, liberty, way of life and the future of the next generation, Lai said. This is the most important legacy the people of this era could pass on to future generations, he said. Lai went on to discuss
SECOND SPEECH: All political parties should work together to defend democracy, protect Taiwan and resist the CCP, despite their differences, the president said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday discussed how pro-Taiwan and pro-Republic of China (ROC) groups can agree to maintain solidarity on the issue of protecting Taiwan and resisting the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The talk, delivered last night at Taoyuan’s Hakka Youth Association, was the second in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. Citing Taiwanese democracy pioneer Chiang Wei-shui’s (蔣渭水) slogan that solidarity brings strength, Lai said it was a call for political parties to find consensus amid disagreements on behalf of bettering the nation. All political parties should work together to defend democracy, protect Taiwan and resist
By refusing to agree spending increases to appease US President Donald Trump, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez threatened to derail a summit that NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte needs to run smoothly for the sake of the military alliance’s future survival. Ahead of yesterday’s gathering in The Hague, Netherlands, things were going off the rails. European officials have expressed irritation at the spoiler role that Sanchez is playing when their No. 1 task is to line up behind a pledge to raise defense spending to 5 percent of GDP. Rutte needed to keep Spain in line while preventing others such as Slovakia
RSS