Metal fatigue and corrosion were found in pieces of wreckage from a Hong Kong-bound China Airlines (CAL) jetliner that broke apart and fell into the Taiwan Strait shortly after taking off from Taipei last year, the Cabinet's Aviation Safety Council (ASC) said in a "factual data report" released yesterday.
CAL flight CI-611, a Boeing 747-200, crashed into the sea about 22km north of Makung, Penghu Island, on May 25 last year, killing 209 passengers and 16 crew.
After collecting 1,432 pieces of wreckage, making up nearly 80 percent of the aircraft, the council yesterday ruled out terrorism, pilot error and the weather as causes of the crash.
PHOTO: AP
While investigators said they would not conclude until next year why the airliner broke up mid-flight, they confirmed that fatigue cracks and corrosion were found near where the aircraft is thought to have first broken apart.
The report, published on the council's Web site, said that several cracks had been found on a piece of wreckage that contained an aluminum patch that had been used to repair damage sustained when the plane's tail struck the runway in Hong Kong in February 1980.
Under the patch, investigators found a 38cm continuous crack that they suspect had been there for some time.
Paint was also found under the patch, although investigators would not say whether this indicated the patch had been improperly attached to the plane.
Corrosion was also found at multiple sites around the patch.
ASC Managing Director Yong Kay (
A pressurization control switch was set to manual rather than automatic, suggesting an anomaly in the cabin pressure, he said.
"We still need time to probe the cause based on available evidence," Yong said.
Yong said that nothing unusual about the way the plane had been flown was found in data collected from the flight data recorder. However, Yong said, the recorder lacked information on cabin pressure.
Yong yesterday declined to make a direct link between the metal fatigue and the crash.
After the 1980 accident, Yong said, the jet flew back from Hong Kong to Taiwan with a temporary patch, which was replaced with a permanent patch in May that year.
"When we asked for documentation about the 1980 repair, CAL provided us with only limited information," Yong said.
Yong said a preliminary draft of the analysis report would be released by the end of this year and a final report would be published by October next year.
INVESTIGATION: The case is the latest instance of a DPP figure being implicated in an espionage network accused of allegedly leaking information to Chinese intelligence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) member Ho Jen-chieh (何仁傑) was detained and held incommunicado yesterday on suspicion of spying for China during his tenure as assistant to then-minister of foreign affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮). The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said Ho was implicated during its investigation into alleged spying activities by former Presidential Office consultant Wu Shang-yu (吳尚雨). Prosecutors said there is reason to believe Ho breached the National Security Act (國家安全法) by leaking classified Ministry of Foreign Affairs information to Chinese intelligence. Following interrogation, prosecutors petitioned the Taipei District Court to detain Ho, citing concerns over potential collusion or tampering of evidence. The
‘FORM OF PROTEST’: The German Institute Taipei said it was ‘shocked’ to see Nazi symbolism used in connection with political aims as it condemned the incident Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), who led efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), was released on bail of NT$80,000 yesterday amid an outcry over a Nazi armband he wore to questioning the night before. Sung arrived at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning in a recall petition forgery case on Tuesday night wearing a red armband bearing a swastika, carrying a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and giving a Nazi salute. Sung left the building at 1:15am without the armband and apparently covering the book with a coat. This is a serious international scandal and Chinese
Seventy percent of middle and elementary schools now conduct English classes entirely in English, the Ministry of Education said, as it encourages schools nationwide to adopt this practice Minister of Education (MOE) Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) is scheduled to present a report on the government’s bilingual education policy to the Legislative Yuan’s Education and Culture Committee today. The report would outline strategies aimed at expanding access to education, reducing regional disparities and improving talent cultivation. Implementation of bilingual education policies has varied across local governments, occasionally drawing public criticism. For example, some schools have required teachers of non-English subjects to pass English proficiency
TRADE: The premier pledged safeguards on ‘Made in Taiwan’ labeling, anti-dumping measures and stricter export controls to strengthen its position in trade talks Products labeled “made in Taiwan” must be genuinely made in Taiwan, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday, vowing to enforce strict safeguards against “origin laundering” and initiate anti-dumping investigations to prevent China dumping its products in Taiwan. Cho made the remarks in a discussion session with representatives from industries in Kaohsiung. In response to the US government’s recent announcement of “reciprocal” tariffs on its trading partners, President William Lai (賴清德) and Cho last week began a series of consultations with industry leaders nationwide to gather feedback and address concerns. Taiwanese and US officials held a videoconference on Friday evening to discuss the
RSS