The ASC today released the final report on its investigation of the March 21,2003 runway incursion occurrence involving a scheduled TransAsia Airways flight GE543 from Taipei to Tainan during the landing roll at Tai-Nan airport, a joint civilian/military airport. The A321-131 type aircraft hit a construction truck causing serious injury of the truck driver, and minor injuries of the two workers on board the truck. There were 2 flight crews, 4 cabin crews, and 169 passengers on-board the aircraft. None was injured. The aircraft suffered severe damage.

The Aviation Safety Council has determined that the findings related to probable cause of the crash of GE543 was due to inadequate planning and implementation in airport construction safety procedures by both the CAA and the military authority, inadequacy in landing approval when exceeding the curfew hour, insufficient cooperation and coordination between the CAA and the military base authorities prior to construction work, lack of awareness to a lit runway when entering an active runway without acknowledging the tower controllers.

Findings related to risk including the confusion of airport construction safety & management responsibilities between the CAA and the military authority, lack of efficient/effective implementation of the decision made in the meeting, lack of oversight, supervision & self-audit mechanisms from both authorities, and the lack of safety awareness training.
The Council issues 14 recommendations to the CAA, Air force, Ministry of Transportation, and Ministry of Defense to look into the runway incursion risks & safety issues during the airport construction of joint civilian/military airports and assess the risks and improvements necessary in avoiding runway incursion accidents.

The Council concluded that runway incursion occurrence of the joint civilian/military airport was caused by multiple factors within the aviation system and could only be mitigated through top-level coordination and cooperation.
At present, only the Chinese version of the accident report is available on the ASC web site: www.asc.gov.tw.


For more information, please contact
Safety investigator
Tracy Jen 886-2-25475200-167