Families of those who died in the crash of China Airlines CI611 complained to the Ministry of Transportation and Communica-tions yesterday that the company is not negotiating in good faith and has failed to continue its safety improvement project as promised.
Representatives of the families of the 225 victims were supposed to meet with China Airlines officials yesterday for a negotiation on compensation payments.
The negotiation did not take place because airline informed the family representatives that the venue had been changed after they had arrived at the company's headquarters on Nanjing E. Road.
The representatives rejected to the move and called the ministry to complain, accusing the airline of insincerity. They then went to the ministry to protest in person.
Esther Chiang (
Family representatives vowed to stage a large protest if the airline keeps dodging its responsibility.
"Since our last negotiation in July, the airline never proposed further negotiations with the families until now," said Lee Han (
"The company has been postponing the date for negotiations," Lee said.
Lee said that during previous negotiations China Airlines president Philip Wei (
"However, the project was aborted because of protests by the airline's employees in the two sections," Lee said.
Chiang asked the Civil Aeronautics Administration to investigate whether China Airlines had discontinued the safety project.
Taiwan Consumers' Foundation (TCF) secretary general Cheng Jen-hung (程仁宏), an attorney who is helping the families in their compensation negotiations along with other foundation lawyers, demanded that negotiations be reopened within a week and the airline publish the progress of its safety improvement project.
"Otherwise the TCF will call for all consumers not to take China Airlines flights," Cheng said.
Cheng said if the airline did not respond to the requests, the foundation and victim representatives would file a protest with the Control Yuan.
Representatives from the airline agreed to reopen the negotiation within a week.
Airlines spokesman Roger Han (
"The airline is willing to negotiate with the victim representatives," Han said.
However, he did not comment on the accusation that the company has discontinued the safety improvement project.
All 225 people aboard the flight CI611 died after the plane exploded into four pieces in midair and crashed into the sea near Penghu en route from Taipei to Hong Kong on May 25. All but 45 bodies have been recovered.
The Aviation Safety Council is still investigating the incident. Preliminary, unofficial findings suggested metal fatigue might be one reason the plane broke up.
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