Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) officials are investigating why a Starlux Airlines flight to Penang, Malaysia, returned to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport nearly two hours after takeoff yesterday morning.
The airline said in a statement that Flight JX721 to Penang took off from Taoyuan airport at 9:20am.
“After the dashboard showed a signal of an abnormality in the hydraulic system, the captain followed standard operating procedures and returned the flight to Taoyuan airport for safety precautions,” the airline said, adding that the flight landed safely at the airport at 11:04am.
Photo courtesy of Starlux Airlines
The airline arranged for the passengers to have lunch after the flight landed and dispatched another plane to take them to Penang, which departed at 1:30pm, it said.
Separately, Taiwan International Ports Corp (TIPC) said that it would seek compensation from the owner of Cypress-registered container ship Hyundai Tokyo after the ship allegedly caused major damage to a pier when docking at the Port of Kaohsiung on Monday morning.
The 74,651-tonne container ship allegedly hit No. 77 pier at the port after failing to enter the dock at the correct angle. No casualties were reported.
The Maritime and Port Bureau and Taiwan Transportation Safety Board are to conduct separate investigations into the incident.
A preliminary investigation conducted by the bureau found that the pilot who guided the ship to the port had an alcohol-induced reaction.
The maritime pilot’s alcohol density was measured at 0.69 in a test administered by personnel on the container ship, the bureau said.
After disembarking the ship, the pilot passed a walk test and tested only 0.19 in an alcohol test jointly administered by the bureau and police, it said.
The Kaohsiung Maritime Pilots’ Office said the pilot drank the night before reporting for work and he thought the effects of the alcohol had receded.
Ship owners should request a change of maritime pilot if they have drunk alcohol, smell of alcohol or show signs of fatigue, it said.
Although the Criminal Code stipulates penalties for drunk driving on the road and at sea, the penalties do not apply to maritime pilots, as they guide ships and do not steer them.
TIPC’s Kaohsiung office is calculating the cost of the damage and would seek compensation from the ship’s owner.
The maritime pilot would be subject to punishment according to the Pilotage Act (引水法) if drinking alcohol was found to be directly or indirectly related to the accident.
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday said that a surge in respiratory illnesses in China has been caused by at least seven types of pathogens, and small children, elderly people and immunocompromised people should temporarily avoid unnecessary visits to China. The recent outbreak of respiratory illnesses in China is mainly in the north and among children, CDC Deputy Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞) said on Monday. Data released by the Chinese National Health Commission on Sunday showed that among children aged one to four, the main pathogens were influenza viruses and rhinoviruses, while among children aged five to 14, the main pathogens
A New Taipei City hotpot restaurant could be fined after a rat dropped from the ceiling and landed on a customer’s plate last week, the New Taipei City Department of Health said yesterday after conducting an inspection. A woman recently posted on the “I am a Banciao resident” (我是板橋人) social media group saying that she had been eating with a friend at Chien Tu Shabu Shabu Hotpot Restaurant’s Shuangshi B branch in Banciao District (板橋). “While still eating, a big rat suddenly dropped down from the ceiling, landing on a plate next to a hotpot,” she said. “Later on, a member of
A new poll of Taiwanese voters found the top opposition candidate for president jumping past the ruling party’s hopeful into the lead position ahead of January’s election — the latest twist in a drama-filled race. Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) presidential candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) had an approval rating of 31.9 percent versus 29.2 percent for the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) presidential candidate Vice President William Lai (賴清德), the poll released yesterday by the Taiwanese Public Opinion Foundation showed. The Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) presidential candidate, New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜), ranked third with 23.6 percent, according to the survey conducted
Actress Hu Ling (胡伶) on Saturday became the first Chinese movie star to walk the red carpet of the Golden Horse Awards since 2019, when China boycotted Taiwan’s biggest awards show over political tensions. Beijing banned its entertainers from joining the awards, dubbed the Chinese-language Oscars, after documentary director Fu Yu (傅榆) voiced support for Taiwan’s formal independence in an acceptance speech in 2018. There were no films from China in the 2019 nomination list and several Hong Kong movies dropped out that year, while several big commercial productions were conspicuously absent at both the 2020 and 2021 awards. However, Hu, nominated for
RSS