China Airlines yesterday denied a report that it had ignored warning signals about a plane that burst into flames in Japan this week with 165 people on board.
The Chinese-language China Times had reported that a warning signal for one wing had appeared for two consecutive days but that the airline had simply replaced a sensor to "solve" the problem.
The report said the company ignored the warnings, which eventually led to the blaze on the runway in Okinawa.
PHOTO: LO PEI-DER, TAIPEI TIMES
All 165 passengers and crew escaped to safety, sliding down emergency chutes with just moments to spare.
China Airlines spokesman Johnson Sun (
Investigators in Japan said they had found a hole in the fuel tank of the plane that could explain the blaze. It is believed the hole was made by a bolt that came loose from a movable flap on the front of the right wing. Investigators did not know why the bolt came loose, Japanese media reports said.
"On Aug. 4 and Aug, 5 there were [warning] signals on the No. 1 left slat. We replaced the sensor following an inspection and after that everything was normal," Sun, the airline's spokesman, told reporters.
Japan's Jiji Press reported that Boeing had issued a warning to airlines last year to check for bolts piercing fuel tanks.
China Airlines has reported nine fatal accidents since 1970.
The airline launched a safety overhaul after an accident in Taipei in February 1998 killed 196 passengers and crew and six people on the ground.
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