Taiwan international airport jet bridge collapses

[Robin 0]

 

A jet bridge at the second terminal of Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport collapsed Monday afternoon, but no injuries were reported. Authorities said the cause is still being investigated.

 

The collapse took place at 1: 24 p.m. at boarding gate D6 of the second terminal, while airport staff were preparing to receive 30 business class passengers arriving from Singapore on flight SQ876.

 

The jet bridge -- a walkway that connects aircraft to the airport -- was scheduled for maintenance the same morning after one of its motors malfunctioned. A South Korean company sold the bridge to the airport for NT$10 million (US$312,000) in 2005.

 

Chang Tie-yuan, the deputy director of the airport, said Monday afternoon that the cause of the collapse was still unknown and that the maintenance department will conduct an overall inspection of all the airport's jet bridges.

 

"The collapse will have virtually no impact on the operation of the airport, " he said. "We have shut down the boarding gate but no flights will be delayed due to the closure." This is the first time that a jet bridge has toppled at the airport, which was originally named Chiang Kai-shek International Airport. It opened in 1979 and the second terminal was added in 2000.

 

Earlier this month, Minister of Transportation and Communications Mao Chi-kuo announced that construction for a third terminal will begin later this year as part of the Airport Zone project.

 

In a briefing with President Ma Ying-jeou, Mao said the goal is to turn the airport into a transportation hub for Northeast Asia.

 

According to the Airport Council International's (AIC) 2009 Airport Service Quality Survey, the airport fell to 27th place, a sharp decline from the previous year's 18th place.

 

The government has recently approved a NT$10.7 billion airport renovation project.

Edited July 1, 2010 by Robin

[Gavin Andrew David 6]

Luckily it didn't take the door out at the same time ! I think that happened in KUL

[S V Choong 4]

In a briefing with President Ma Ying-jeou, Mao said the goal is to turn the airport into a transportation hub for Northeast Asia.

Okay. So I read, President "Mao" (hopefully not Chairman Mao).

 

Taiwan/Taipei becomes the hub airport of East Asia? How likely is that? At most she will be like the KUL of East Asia.