Cablegate: Runway Accident Closes Taipei's Sungshan Airport

This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS TAIPEI 003263

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EAP/RSP/TC AND EB/TRA/OTP
STATE PASS AIT/W

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EAIR ECON TW
SUBJECT: RUNWAY ACCIDENT CLOSES TAIPEI'S SUNGSHAN AIRPORT

A runway accident forced the closure of Taipei's Sungshan
Airport last night. A TransAsia Airlines Airbus A320
slipped off the runway at 8:04 pm on October 18 after a
flight from Hualien, Taiwan. The aircraft was damaged but
all 100 passengers and 6 crewmembers were unharmed. It took
some time for airport crews to clear the damaged plane, so
the airport, which has only one runway, was closed to all
flights until 10:30 am the following morning. In all, the
accident caused the cancellation of 30 flights. Taiwan's
Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) blamed a wet runway
for the accident. However, Taiwan's Aviation Safety
Council, an agency independent of the CAA, will conduct an
investigation to determine whether equipment failure or
human error contributed to the accident.

PAAL

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