Close call at Taipei
Taipei (dpa) - A Japanese and a Taiwanese passenger jets nearly collided Sunday at Taoyuan International Airport due to the Japanese jet's delayed takeoff from the runway, a newspaper said Monday.
The incident occurred at about 3:10 pm Sunday when a Japan Asia Airways (JAA) aircraft was taxiing on a runway for takeoff to Japan, and a China Airline's Boeing 747 was preparing to land on the same runway, the China Times reported.
As the JAA jet was taxiing, its engine died and its takeoff was delayed, but the CAL jet was not immediately notified, and it began to descend to land.
The airport control tower alerted the Boeing 747 about the JAA jet's delayed takeoff when the Boeing 747 was about 200 metres from the JAA jet. The Boeing 747 pulled up its landing gear, delayed its landing and prevented a possible head-on crash.
The China Times said that aviation authorities suspect that the JAA pilot's lack of experience and the airport control tower's failure to immediately notify the CAL Boeing 747 about the JAA jet's delayed takeoff caused the near-collision.