Taiwan’s Civil Aeronautics Administration met with airline representatives on Monday to discuss the standards used for deciding whether a domestic airplane can land in bad weather.
The meeting came a little over two weeks after the first fatal plane crash in Taiwan in 12 years. The plane – TransAsia Airways Flight 222 – went down on the outlying islands of Penghu on July 23, leaving 48 dead and another ten injured. The plane was attempting to land in a typhoon-affected area, and that has raised questions about whether the weather played a role in the crash.
The participants in Monday’s meeting agreed that there should be no changes to the takeoff and landing guidelines used by domestic airports, because they are in line with international standards for landing in a typhoon or thunderstorm.
The participants agreed, though, that the individual airlines should change their guidelines to take into consideration the weather conditions at not only the destination airport, but also at an alternate airport. The current regulations require good weather conditions at one or the other, but the new regulations would require favorable conditions at both in order for a plane to take off as scheduled.
Another consensus reached at Monday’s meeting was that airplanes must have enough oil to reach an alternate airport.
Airline representatives also agreed that the on-board weather radar must be working in order for a plane to take off, and that the crew should avoid crossing through inclement weather during takeoff and landing.