The Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) is reportedly investigating whether Starlux Airlines chairman Chang Kuo-wei (張國煒) contravened aviation regulations by piloting an A350 aircraft to Taiwan from Tokyo while fatigued on Sunday, along with issues related to weather-induced flight disruptions that caused more than 300 passengers to be stranded in Tokyo on Saturday.
The operation of the Taipei-based airline came under scrutiny after 302 passengers were forced to spend Saturday night at Narita International Airport due to substantial delays of two flights to Taiwan — flights JX801 and JX803 — that were caused by strong crosswinds at the airport.
The delays also caused the airline to reschedule two flights that were to depart from Taipei to Los Angeles over the weekend.
Photo: CNA
Chang, who is a pilot, went to Tokyo with three Starlux staff pilots on Sunday to fly back two Airbus 350 aircraft stranded at Narita airport because of the flight delays. Chang operated one of the flights.
He told reporters at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport that “he did not sleep the night before because he tried to catch a red-eye flight to handle the situation in Tokyo.”
The CAA said it has launched an investigation into the incident on Saturday.
“We have asked Starlux to explain what happened with the return flights from Tokyo on Saturday. Some of the key issues we are seeking to clarify include whether the airline has thoroughly followed aviation safety measures in handling the weather-induced flight disruption, whether cabin crew have worked overtime, how it dealt with problems caused by flight delays and cancelation, and how it has planned to compensate passengers, the agency said.
It has also asked the airline to address the issues immediately, it added.
Local media reported that the agency would also investigate an abnormality with a navigation light on flight JX803, and whether Narita Airport had agreed to have one of the airline’s planes take off during the airport’s curfew.
As Chang said he did not sleep the night before operating an aircraft back to Taipei, the agency would examine if he complied with regulations on flight duties for pilots, the reports said.
The inspection equipment and data transmission system for new robotic dogs that Taipei is planning to use for sidewalk patrols were developed by a Taiwanese company, the city’s New Construction Office said today, dismissing concerns that the China-made robots could pose a security risk. The city is bringing in smart robotic dogs to help with sidewalk inspections, Taipei Deputy Mayor Lee Ssu-chuan (李四川) said on Facebook. Equipped with a panoramic surveillance system, the robots would be able to automatically flag problems and easily navigate narrow sidewalks, making inspections faster and more accurate, Lee said. By collecting more accurate data, they would help Taipei
STATS: Taiwan’s average life expectancy of 80.77 years was lower than that of Japan, Singapore and South Korea, but higher than in China, Malaysia and Indonesia Taiwan’s average life expectancy last year increased to 80.77 years, but was still not back to its pre-COVID-19 pandemic peak of 81.32 years in 2020, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. The average life expectancy last year increased the 0.54 years from 2023, the ministry said in a statement. For men and women, the average life expectancy last year was 77.42 years and 84.30 years respectively, up 0.48 years and 0.56 years from the previous year. Taiwan’s average life expectancy peaked at 81.32 years in 2020, as the nation was relatively unaffected by the pandemic that year. The metric
TAKING STOCK: The USMC is rebuilding a once-abandoned airfield in Palau to support large-scale ground operations as China’s missile range grows, Naval News reported The US Marine Corps (USMC) is considering new sites for stockpiling equipment in the West Pacific to harden military supply chains and enhance mobility across the Indo-Pacific region, US-based Naval News reported on Saturday. The proposed sites in Palau — one of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies — and Australia would enable a “rapid standup of stored equipment within a year” of the program’s approval, the report said, citing documents published by the USMC last month. In Palau, the service is rebuilding a formerly abandoned World War II-era airfield and establishing ancillary structures to support large-scale ground operations “as China’s missile range and magazine
A 72-year-old man in Kaohsiung was sentenced to 40 days in jail after he was found having sex with a 67-year-old woman under a slide in a public park on Sunday afternoon. At 3pm on Sunday, a mother surnamed Liang (梁) was with her child at a neighborhood park when they found the man, surnamed Tsai (蔡), and woman, surnamed Huang (黃), underneath the slide. Liang took her child away from the scene, took photographs of the two and called the police, who arrived and arrested the couple. During questioning, Tsai told police that he had met Huang that day and offered to