Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Jian-yu (陳建宇) yesterday said that the ministry is seeking the approval of the Executive Yuan to increase the number of aviation safety inspectors in view of two recent plane crashes that led to severe casualties.
Chen and Aviation Safety Council Chairman Chang Yu-hern (張有恆) attended a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee in which they faced questions from lawmakers on China’s proposed M503 aviation route and two crashes involving aircraft operated by TransAsia Airways (復興航空).
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-tse (李昆澤) said that the government’s policy accounts for approximately 60 percent of the evaluation for assignment of new flight routes to civil carriers, but their aviation safety record accounts for only 20 percent of the evaluation.
Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
He said that the percentage assigned to this particular category is so low that no airline is serious about addressing safety issues.
Lee suggested that an airline not be assigned any new flight route for three years if the carrier has had a plane crash within a year of the assignment taking place.
Currently, a carrier only has to sit out the assignment of the new aviation routes for a year.
Meanwhile, Lee said that the number of flights in Taiwan has increased by 17 percent in the past five years, but there is a 3 percent shortage of safety inspectors, with many of the inspectors being contractors.
“The two TransAsia Airways crashes show that the airline has failed to provide adequate training to its pilots, who may be overworked as well,” Lee said. “The Civil Aeronautics Administration should revise the regulations to address these issues, or it will become an accomplice in these crimes.”
Chen said the Ministry of Labor has begun a series of extensive interviews with airlines to investigative the working conditions of pilots and a report is scheduled to be released at the end of this month.
He said that the ministry has requested permission to increase the number of aviation safety inspectors. The request is still awaiting the approval of the Executive Yuan, he said.
FAST TRACK? Chinese spouses must renounce their Chinese citizenship and pledge allegiance to Taiwan to gain citizenship, some demonstrators said Opponents and supporters of a bill that would allow Chinese spouses to obtain Taiwanese citizenship in four years instead of six staged protests near the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday morning. Those who oppose the bill proposed by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) demanded that Chinese spouses be granted citizenship only after renouncing their Chinese citizenship, passing a citizenship test and pledging allegiance to Taiwan. The demonstrators, who were protesting at a side entrance to the Legislative Yuan on Jinan Road, were mostly members of the Taiwan Association of University Professors and other organizations advocating Taiwanese independence. Supporters of the bill, led
SILENT MAJORITY: Only 1 percent of Chinese rejected all options but war to annex Taiwan, while one-third viewed war as unacceptable, a university study showed Many Chinese are more concerned with developments inside their country than with seeking unification with Taiwan, al-Jazeera reported on Friday. Although China claims Taiwan as its own territory and has vowed to annex it, by force if necessary, 23-year-old Chinese Shao Hongtian was quoted by al-Jazeera as saying that “hostilities are not the way to bring China and Taiwan together.” “I want unification to happen peacefully,” Shao said. Al-Jazeera said it changed Shao’s name to respect his wish for anonymity. If peaceful unification is not possible, Shao said he would prefer “things to remain as they are,” adding that many of his friends feel
Taiwan has “absolute air superiority” over China in its own airspace, Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) told a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee on Monday, amid concern over whether Taipei could defend itself against a military incursion by Beijing. Po made the remarks in response to a question from Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chiu Chih-wei (邱志偉) on whether Taiwan would have partial or complete air superiority if Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) warplanes were to enter Taiwan’s airspace. Po, a retired pilot, said that the Taiwanese military has “absolute air superiority” over PLA
A shipment of basil pesto imported by Costco Wholesale Taiwan from the US in the middle of last month was intercepted at the border after testing positive for excessive pesticide residue, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. Samples taken from a shipment of the Kirkland Signature brand of basil pesto imported by Costco contained 0.1 milligrams per kilogram of ethylene oxide, exceeding the non-detectable limit. Ethylene oxide is a carcinogenic substance that can be used as a pesticide. The 674kg shipment of basil pesto would either be destroyed or returned to its country of origin, as is the procedure for all