Fifteen passengers were slightly injured yesterday as they were evacuated from an Uni Air (立榮航空)/EVA Airways (長榮航空) flight at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport after smoke was reported coming from one of the plane’s engines.
Flight BR807 bound for Macau was scheduled to depart at 9am, but as the Mcdonnell Douglas MD-90 aircraft was accelerating, the captain noticed an engine warning signal. The captain decided to abort takeoff and taxied the plane back to the C2 ramp for inspection.
After reaching the C2 ramp, ground crew informed the cockpit that they saw smoke coming from the tail pipe of the plane’s No. 1 engine, prompting the captain to evacuate all the passengers.
Photo courtesy of a passenger surnamed Huang
The injuries occurred as passengers used the emergency evacuation slides to leave the plane.
“The 152 passengers descended quickly via the emergency evacuation slides following the instructions of the captain and flight attendants,” EVA spokesperson Nieh Kuo-wei (聶國維) said. “Fifteen passengers were slightly injured during the evacuation. They were able to continue on their trip after being treated by medical professionals.”
The airline apologized for delay and gave each passenger a hongbao (red envelope) and a meal coupon. Passengers finally departed at 2:40pm on a replacement plane.
Television news reports said some passengers complained that the plane had braked suddenly close to takeoff, while others blamed their injuries on skewed evacuation chutes and the lack of personnel on the ground to assist passengers as they slid down the chutes.
One woman said some passengers had asked for another cabin door to be opened because the smell of oil and smoke was making them nauseous, but flight attendants ignored the request.
Authorities said the plane had been in service for 14 years.
The Aviation Safety Council said it would hold a meeting to determine whether it or the Civil Aeronautics Administration should investigate the incident.
The council’s managing director, Thomas Wang (王興中), said the determining factor was whether there had been a fire in the engine.
“If the engine was on fire it would constitute an accident and the council would have to investigate,” Wang said. “If the smoke from the engine was caused by other factors, then it becomes a flight safety incident, which should be investigated by the Civil Aeronautics Administration.”
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique