Aviation security personnel at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport were on high alert yesterday morning after receiving information that a gas cylinder had been found in the cargo container of a China Airlines passenger jet.
The airline said that Flight CI003 arrived at the airport from San Francisco at 5:05am, and its ground crew discovered the gas cylinder while unloading the cargo container. The crew immediately informed aviation police per standard operating procedures, the company said.
According to operator Taoyuan International Airport Co, aviation police officers arrived at the D5 tarmac and cordoned off the area while they waited for the bomb squad to arrive to inspect the cylinder.
Photo: Chu Pei-hsiung, Taipei Times
Fearing that the cylinder could explode, the airport operator also called in fire trucks and an ambulance.
The bomb squad declared that the cylinder contained no explosives, adding that the “timer” reported by the ground crew was actually the pressure gauge of the cylinder.
The cylinder was moved to the northeast tarmac for cargo flights for further inspection, the airport company said.
China Airlines said the cylinder belongs to its warehouse agent firm in San Francisco, and that the agent had admitted that its workers had replaced the empty cylinder with a new one and forgotten to remove the empty one.
The company added that it had taken note of the error and would compile a detailed investigative report.
It is holding its warehouse agent in San Francisco accountable for the incident, based on the terms of their contract, it said.
Han Chen-hua (韓振華), director of the Civil Aeronautics Administration’s airport transport division, said that China Airlines would be asked to strengthen its oversight mechanism.
The Civil Aviation Act (民用航空法) states that the airline could face a penalty of between NT$20,000 and NT$100,000 if it is found to be carrying dangerous items.
Since the gas cylinder does not contain pressured gas or other dangerous items, the airline can only be held responsible for not thoroughly enforcing standard procedures, he said.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
Many Japanese couples are coming to Taiwan to obtain donated sperm or eggs for fertility treatment due to conservatism in their home country, Taiwan’s high standards and low costs, doctors said. One in every six couples in Japan is receiving infertility treatment, Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare data show. About 70,000 children are born in Japan every year through in vitro fertilization (IVF), or about one in every 11 children born. Few people accept donated reproductive cells in Japan due to a lack of clear regulations, leaving treatment in a “gray zone,” Taichung Nuwa Fertility Center medical director Wang Huai-ling (王懷麟)
PROXIMITY: Prague is closer to Dresden than Berlin is, so Taiwanese firms are expected to take advantage of the Czech capital’s location, the Executive Yuan official said Taiwan plans to boost cooperation with the Czech Republic in semiconductor development due to Prague’s pivotal role in the European IC industry, Executive Yuan Secretary-General Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said. With Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) building a wafer fab in the German city of Dresden, a Germany-Czech Republic-Poland “silicon triangle” is forming, Kung said in a media interview on the weekend after returning from a visit to Prague. “Prague is closer to Dresden than Berlin is, so Taiwanese firms are expected to take advantage of the Czech capital’s location,” he said. “Taiwan and Prague have already launched direct flights and it is
RSS