The TransAsia Airways aircraft that crashed into the Keelung River minutes after leaving Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) on Wednesday last week has Taipei residents wondering whether it is too much of a risk to have an airport located in the city.
Hong Kong used to have one of the world’s most dangerous airports — the famous Kai Tak Airport. Not only was the sound pollution horrible as Boeing 747s passed close to residential buildings, there were also great security concerns. The Hong Kong experience could be of value as Taipei residents decide the future of the Taipei airport.
Kai Tak was so dangerous that it has often been used in flight simulator games. It is now many years since an accident similar to the TransAsia Airways crash occurred at Kai Tak. While the airport was surrounded by mountains and tall buildings to the north, the only runway jutted out into Victoria Harbour, so it could have been possible to pull off the same kind of landing that a US Airways aircraft did when it managed an emergency landing in the Hudson River in 2009. Another aspect of Kai Tak was that airlines would assign their most experienced pilots or pilots who had been given special training to land at the airport.
Until Taipei airport is relocated, avoiding similar accidents requires that the highest demands be placed on pilots who fly in and out of it — regardless of their safety record or seniority — and perhaps they should even be required to take special training.
In addition, airline ground maintenance staff should place the strictest mechanical demands on aircraft airworthiness — if there is the slightest doubt about mechanical soundness, the flight should be delayed or another aircraft should be used.
The dispute over whether to relocate Hong Kong’s airport went on for ages. On one hand, moving it would be very expensive, and on the other, the central location was very convenient for passenger and goods transport. The British therefore invested huge funds in a railway and freeway to the new Hong Kong International Airport, but even though Hong Kong residents would be able to check in for flights at railway stations in town, they did not want to sacrifice the convenience of Kai Tak.
Many China-based Taiwanese businesspeople own Gulfstream G650 jets, which they use for traveling across the Taiwan Strait. They would surely want to keep Taipei airport. I have experience as a broker selling and buying aircraft and have a good understanding of their mindset. However, it is too dangerous to have an airport in an urban area, and Taipei airport should not remain as it is just to please a few businesspeople.
In the long term, one possible solution would be to build an airport for smaller aircraft for flights to Kinmen and Matsu and other areas and for private business aircraft that is easily reached from the city, perhaps on reclaimed land along the coast of New Taipei City’s Tamsui District (淡水).
However, the suggestion by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Alex Tsai (蔡正元) that a terminal could be built at Taipei airport and the runway in Tamsui is an odd suggestion. Transportation of luggage alone would be a logistical nightmare, and it is difficult to understand the logic behind the suggestion.
The TransAsia Airways crash reminds Taipei residents that regardless of how conveniently located Taipei airport is, it is time to start discussing its closure.
Martin Oei is a political commentator based in Hong Kong.
Translated by Perry Svensson
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