Economics/Business Taiwan’s Unfriendly Skies | Taiwan’s Unfriendly Skies |
| Written by Our Correspondent | |
| Monday, 20 August 2007 | |
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China Air’s latest mishap underscores its reputation as one of Asia’s most ill-starred airlines. The 157 passengers aboard a China Airlines Boeing 737-800 got off lucky Monday. Their plane was close enough to the gate that they all got out of the aircraft after its left engine exploded at Naha Airport in Okinawa. But far too many people haven’t been so fortunate. Since 1970, the Taiwanese carrier has been involved in at least 10 crashes that have involved fatalities. In Okinawa, the plane ended up lying on its side as flames and smoke billowed out of it. According to witnesses on the ground, the crew had just docked at the gate when ground staff told them it was on fire. What is it about China Airlines? It is Taiwan’s largest airline and flag carrier, owned by the China Aviation Development Foundation, which belongs to the government of the Republic of China. And it has a spectacular record of disaster over the last 37 years. Its “full loss equivalent” rating, or the sum of the proportion of passengers killed for each fatal event, at 6.23 is the highest of any other East Asian airline. Its record for FLEs, as they are called by airsafe.com, a consumer awareness group, is worse than that for Garuda Indonesia, the whipping boy of airline analysts across the world. Such patrician carriers as Singapore Airlines International and Cathay Pacific have records below 1.0. Qantas has a record of zero. According to another measure, since 1970, China Air has averaged 4.16 fatal events per million flights against a worldwide average under 1. In the current mishap, the airline could have been the unlucky recipient of somebody else’s negligence – a chunk of debris on the Naha runway might have somehow gotten into the engine of the 737-300, a relatively new plane. It could have been the company with which China Air contracts for its maintenance. Or it could have been negligence on the part of the ground crew. The engine exploded after the plane had landed, according to the transport ministry, and terrorism was ruled out as a cause. Shares of China Airlines fell as much as 3.9 percent to NT$12.50 and traded at NT$13.05 as of 11 a.m. in Taipei. But since 1970, China Air has been the unlucky recipient of disasters like these: August 1970: China Airlines YS11 is on final approach in bad weather into Taipei when the plane hits a ridge 800 meters from the runway. Two of the five crew members and 12 of the 26 passengers die. November 1971; China Airlines Caravelle is believed to have been destroyed by a bomb over the Formosa Strait. All 17 passengers and eight crew members are killed. February 1980; China Airlines 707-300 is on final approach into Manila Airport in a “steep and unstablized approach,” lands hard short of the runway, rips off two engines and parts of a wing. Two of 122 passengers are killed. February 1986; China Airlines 737-200 touches down but aborts landing in the Pescadores Islands, Taiwan. All six passengers and seven crew members are killed in the attempt to go around. October 1989: China Airlines 737-200 hits cloud-shrouded high ground at 2130 meters in “incorrect takeoff procedure” near Hualien, Taiwan. All seven crew members and 49 passengers are killed. April 1994; China Airlines A300-600 stalls and crashes due to crew errors during approach to Nagoya, Japan. All 15 crew and 249 of the 264 passengers are killed. February 1998; China Airlines A300-600 crashes into a residential area in Taoyuan short of the runway during a second landing attempt in bad weather. All 15 crew and 182 passengers plus seven persons on the ground are killed. August 1999; China Airlines MD11 drags a wing and crashes at Chek Lap Kok in Hong Kong during an attempt to land in a typhoon. The aircraft comes to rest upside down and on fire. Three of the 300 passengers are killed. May 2002. China Airlines 747-200 breaks up in flight near the Penghu Islands, Taiwan about 20 minutes into a flight from Taipei to Hong Kong while the aircraft was just above 30,000 feet. No distress signal or other communication was received prior to the crash that killed all 19 crew members and 206 passengers. There have been lesser incidents. In 1985, a Boeing 747 went out of control, recovered, and managed an emergency landing at San Francisco International Airport. In 1993, another China Air 747 touched down more than two thirds of the way down the runway at Hong Kong’s old Kai Tak Airport and ended up in the water. All 396 aboard lived to tell about it. In 2002, a China Air flight took off from a taxiway in Alaska, nicked an embankment on the way out and damaged its landing gear, although it was able to land safely. Several factors contributed to the problems. Heavy maintenance for several years was contracted to a shadowy firm in Tainan that had formerly belonged to the US Central Intelligence Agency. Also, the airline’s pilots were largely drawn from the ranks of the republic’s air force, and they tended to fly like air force pilots, taking chances they needn’t take. China Air has been working hard to correct its faults, analysts say. The airline brought in expatriate pilots several years ago as captains to alleviate what had become known as an “ex air-force flying club.” The first few years, the analyst said, were trying. “I talked to one (expatriate) pilot who said ‘you have to remember at all times that the guy in the right-hand seat is trying to kill you.” It also sent young pilots off to other countries, particularly Australia, “to learn the proper way of flying,” he says, although they were frustrated when they came back because seniority kept them in the co-pilot’s seat. The May 2002 disintegration was not due to pilot error, and an investigation concluded that faulty repair by a contractor of the aircraft after it dragged its tail on an earlier takeoff resulted in the disintegration. To some extent, says, an airline analyst, the latest incident is bad luck. It takes about five years, the analyst says, for the bad memories of airline incompetence and disaster to fade and restore passenger confidence. Unfortunately, the last disaster for China Air was just three months more than five years ago.
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(21)
 written by Jim Baker , November 19, 2008
My comments input: Pacific Corporation, Washington, D.C., was the parent company of the following: Air America, Inc., incorporated in Deleware, as a non-schedule airline. It was restricted , in my time, to contratcts with US government agencies, , including military; CAT (Civil Air Transport) was incorporated under the laws of Free China, Taiwan, as a scheduled airline, and in addition to flying a DC-6, it had the famous Manderin Jet, the Convair 880, throughout the Far East, ; SAT (Southern Air Transport) which operated out of Japan, including Operation Bluebook, into Korea. It was a contract carrier; and Air Asia, overhaul and repair shops in Tainan, Taiwan. It helf FAA repai station licence and also had repair contrats with the US Air Force. The pilots on all of them were American with Chinese co-pilots, at my time. SAT had Japanes stewardesses, and CAT had Chinese. All US certificated carriers had American Flight crews, with a few Chinese mixed in. My training in Taipei and Tainan was very interesting and enjoyable, The Chinese instructors were highly efficient and knowledgeable,
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 written by Ben , November 21, 2007
Clearly steve has no idea what he is talking about and not all of his facts are true dont know why he still has his job.
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 written by Steve Liu , August 27, 2007
Jeff, the official names of China and Taiwan (and their companies) can understandably lead to some confusion about who owns what. To straighten things out, I hope this will help. The official name of the independent country of Taiwan is the Republic of China. Taiwan and Republic of China are interchangeable and both refer to the independent nation of Taiwan. Separate from Taiwan is the PEOPLE'S Republic of China, which is the Communist government that governs all of mainland China plus Hong Kong and Macao. Because Taiwan's official title is the Republic of China, many companies in Taiwan use "China" in their names, such as the China Aviation Development Foundation, which is owned by the Taiwanese (ROC) government and not the PEOPLES Republic of China (mainland China). Both Taiwan and China use "China" in their official titles in the same way that South Korea and North Korea both have "Korea" in their official titles, however you would never confuse Korean Airlines as a North Korean owned airline. Hope this helps. Steve.
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 written by TainanCowboy , August 27, 2007
A good article...but does include some bs allegations:
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Heavy maintenance for several years was contracted to a shadowy firm in Tainan that had formerly belonged to the US Central Intelligence Agency. Air Asia is the firm referred to. Do you have a back-up to support this company as the cause of any problems/crashes. They are in full compliance with FAA and CAA regulations, tech documentation and employee training requirements. They are routinely inspected and certified by both agencies as well. And as far as being "shadowy"...that is pure hookum. Air Asia has been in existence for 50 years, is well known in the MRO industry and even has a publicly accessible website...that is...in ENGLISH! Not quite sub rosa...LOL! Yes, it once was known as 'Civil Air Transport', well actually a division of that group, but that relationship ceased to exist many many years ago. Probably before you were born...  Other than those 3 minor discrepancies I agree in regards to their "safety record" being in dire need of improvement. report abuse
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 written by jeff , August 27, 2007
here is a great link for those interested about airplane mishaps.
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http://www.geocities.com/apapele/ report abuse
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written by jeff , August 27, 2007
thanks steve for setting me straight on the location and thanks to others for helping me understand better. i still am confused regarding who actually owns CA. wikipedia is sometimes misleading. can anyone explain why wikipedia says the following? "The airline is not state-owned but belongs to China Aviation Development Foundation. However, the foundation belongs to the government of the Republic of China. The chairman does not have to report to the Legislative Yuan, unlike other state-owned companies in Taiwan."
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i have never visited the country of Taiwan, just connected there. regards to all... report abuse
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 written by Steve Liu , August 26, 2007
Dear Jeff,
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The incident happenned in Okinawa, Japan and not Taiwan. China Airlines is owned by the government of Taiwan through a holding company. And by the way, no mainland Chinese carriers are currently allowed to fly into Taiwan except under special circumstances. Let's keep to the facts. --Steve report abuse
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 written by David , August 26, 2007
While it certainly would be nice to give mainland China (PRC) all of the bad publicity (and credit) from the China Airlines fire in Okinawa, China is NOT "calling the shots" in Taiwan and China has nothing to do with this incident. Taiwan is as separate and independent of a country from China as Singapore is from Malaysia. How could you "fly with China Air often" and not notice that it is a Taiwanese airline? When they stamp your passport in Taipei, does the immigration guy look like the Gestapo? Obviously you are not in mainland China. How about when you apply for a visa to get into Taiwan? I'll bet you went to the Taiwanese embassy or representative office, not the Chinese Embassy. Gee, wonder why. It really bugs when people think that just sounding intelligent is the same as being intelligent.
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written by jeff , August 21, 2007
my point was merely that China has developed a reputation for substandard workmanship in its social climbing. selling out for a quick buck like the west and it is paying the price in negative publicity just like the west. the incident happened in taiwan. the airliner is owned by the government of china and the maintenance is not as strict as the other carriers. the investigation in not complete yet. by the way,...there was recently a proposal to change the name to taiwan air. it did not pass. there are lots of things going on under the table that we are not aware of or have the business of poking our noses into without getting a good boink.
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"Island of Tainan?" Tainan is a large city in southern Taiwan where the US had its fighters repaired during the Vietnam war.
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"a residential area near Taipei" The plane hit a residential area in Taoyuan. Taoyuan is "near Taipei" in the same sense that Milwaukee is near Chicago. Otherwise, a fine article. Very informative. Michael report abuse
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 written by kris , August 20, 2007
no one polices the internet in taiwan nor is the media completely controlled by the government. and you can say whatever you want and worship whomever you want in taiwan without fear. there is the due process in taiwan. and government officials are elected by the taiwanese people.
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written by jeff , August 20, 2007
Just a follow up. Thanks to Jack for your input. However, according to Wikipedia (The airline is not a state-owned corporation nominally, but belongs to China Aviation Development Foundation (中華航空事業發展基金會
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 . However, the foundation belongs to the government of the Republic of China. The chairman does not have to report to the Legislative Yuan, unlike other state-owned companies in Taiwan.) Bottom line here is that "China" is part of the big picture regardless. Yes, I agree that China and Taiwan are separate to some degree but nevertheless China is calling the shots. Two things here,...1. We should all be glad no one was injured in this incident. and 2. This incident regardless of FOD or maintenance looks bad for China at a time when it really needs some good publicity. To say the two countries are totally separate I believe is not an accurate statement. Everyone wants a quick buck now and our true leaders and heros give a poor record of examples to be followed. I do not usually blog but find this article interesting since I fly with China Air often. I find their service to be above standard compared to other US based carriers. China shows its nice side to the west having No. 1 trading status in the USA while giving its less fortunate neighbors the scraps from its table. Even though this happened in Taiwan, it is showing light on China. China is in the spotlight now with it hands in all the cookie jars. The state has turned its head with regards to the "little things" but now has learned that all those little things add up. The entire east waves a communist flag while trying to catch up with Brittney and J-Lo. They have capitalist blood flowing through their veins and are modeling their country after its sibling superpowers. It is only a matter of time for the older class to let go. report abuse
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 written by Steve Zodaic , August 20, 2007
re: "EVA is the airline not many people have heard about. Its also based in Taipei, and compared to China Airlines, its fares are pretty close. But it has not yet had an accident. It doesn't really have any mileage sharing or code sharing partners though."
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It would be more correct to say that EVA is the airline people OUTSIDE East Asia haven't heard of. It is well known in Taiwan as a better carrier than China Airlines and is the favourite airline for travel between Japan and Taiwan. And it does have code-sharing partners: One such carrier is Air Canada The two airlines cooperate to serve travellers with non-stop service between Taipei and Vancouver three or five flights a week. EVA has had no accidents, which they attribute to good management China Airlines has had several, which they attribute to bad luck. If that's true, do you really wanna fly on an airline with such bad luck? report abuse
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 written by Frank Patten , August 20, 2007
China Airlines has gone quite some distance to improve its safety record, just as Korean Air has. In the case of both carriers (and countries), competition with a second carrier (EVA and Asiana, respectively) has played some role as has fleet modernization.
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With Korean, much of the safety problem was cultural. When their 747-300 crashed on approach in Guam, the co-pilot saw it coming but was unwilling to correct the pilot. With China Airlines, as the article shows, cockpit culture may also have been a factor in an abysmal safety record. But, like Korean, China Air has addressed this problem. An aircraft catching fire on the way to the gate is a rare event. I would be cautious in drawing any conclusions at this time. This may be a maintenance problem; perhaps even a matter of FOD (foreign object damage). It could be engine or aircraft related. report abuse
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 written by RM , August 20, 2007
China Airlines seems to be reducing costs in a variety of ways besides maintenance. Although I have flown over 125,000 miles with them, they recently downgarded my gold membership status to a regular membership by increasing the qualifying criteria to rediculous levels. How smart is that for one of the worlds's most dangerous airlines to alienate their frequent fliers? Maybe they have a Customer Prevention Department.
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 written by Jack , August 20, 2007
Dear Jeff
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I would like to point out that Taipei, Republic of China and the Peoples Republic of China are 2 separate countries. Though PRD China tries to implement their "one China policy", both countries have their own government, laws and policies. My neighbouring country of Sweden has many similarities with my home country Finland, but is just as much a different country as Republic of China and People's Republic of China are. China Airlines is based in Taipei, Republic of China. report abuse
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written by jeff , August 20, 2007
China seems to be the current whipping boy of the western culture but one should remember that it is western sell outs that shifted the work base for cheap labor and everybody is learning the hard way that quality counts and your "label" is only as good as its reputation. China is getting kicked from many sides because on one hand it got caught selling weapons to Sudan (Dafur) and on the other is disregarding workmanship for a cheap buck just like the western culture that it is following after in denial. It is likely under the spotlight due to its status grab with the 2008 Olympics with all of these "dings" showing up in its armor. It shot down its own satelite for what? Now the space junk says "made in china" too? China has a lot of growing up to do in a short period of time. Nevertheless the dragon is awake and looking to play. But hey, you know I am still cheap and will be flying China Air soon and dont have a problem with them. Im sure they will be on top of this incident real quick with the way their negative pr has been lately. In the long run it appears that China realizes that it has an identity problem. But it is also aware that most oversized systems are having trust issues now including other major superpowers and that it is a current trend until people wise up.
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 written by Hamish McKenzie , August 20, 2007
Not great PR for China Air at a time when it is part of a major ad campaign with posters plastered throughout Hong Kong's Central underground train station.
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