TransAsia Airways yesterday said its domestic flights would face stricter flight safety standards following the crash of one of its planes in Penghu County last week, leaving 48 people dead.
The carrier said the policy is aimed at ensuring better flight safety, after an initial investigation found that weather conditions at the time of the crash met national safety standards — which critics are now calling into question.
A TransAsia Airways turboprop plane crashed near Magong Airport on Wednesday last week when it aborted a landing in inclement weather and tried to fly a go-around.
The findings from the plane’s black boxes have yet to be released, but weather and visibility are among the main factors investigators are considering as they try to piece together what caused the crash.
TransAsia said the new standards address both issues.
The carrier said it would require visibility to be 50 percent greater than the current standard for each domestic airport it serves.
At Magong Airport, for example, where the minimum visibility standard for landing is 1,600m, TransAsia flights will not be allowed to land unless its pilots can see 2,400m into the distance.
In addition, under inclement weather conditions, TransAsia flights will only be allowed to circle above the airport for up to 30 minutes while waiting for the weather to clear, before having to land at a backup airport or returning to their original point of departure, the carrier said.
Before the ill-fated TransAsia flight tried to land, the pilot circled around Magong Airport for 30 to 40 minutes.
TransAsia acknowledged that the new policy, which must be approved by the Civil Aeronautics Administration before it takes effect, could result in more flight disruptions in the future, but said it wanted to ensure safety.
No other domestic flight operators, including Far Eastern Air Transport, Uni Air and Mandarin Airlines, are to follow TransAsia’s move for the time being.
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