Fokker 50 to be overhauled after fire incident: MND

Chao said that the military took prompt emergency action after two of the main tires on the right rear of the aircraft caught fire, and that no one aboard the plane was hurt. He continued that based on an initial investigation, the small fire was mainly caused by overheating of brake rotors, not from the plane's aging.

The MND has asked the government-run Aerospace Industrial Development Corp. (AIDC) to study the problem, and then will implement a comprehensive overhaul in the areas of personnel, maintenance and equipment to ensure safety, according to Chao.

Chao also noted that before the plane took off, it had been thoroughly checked and had passed all the tests. At the press conference, Su Wen-fu, an official with the ROC Air Force Command Headquarters in charge of supervision and inspection, said an initial check has ruled out the possibility that the problem was caused by human or environmental factors.

The plane took off at 1:00 p.m. from Songshan Air Base and landed on the runway at the Chingchuankang Airport at 1:28 p.m. when the fire was spotted and extinguished by ground crews, according to Su.

He said that every passenger onboard was safe and they all disembarked in accordance with standard procedures.

Su continued that the military has set up a special task force to investigate the incident.

He also noted that President Ma was unaware of the situation during the landing, but was informed later. Also yesterday, when asked about the incident at an award ceremony, President Ma said that remaining calm in an emergency would help things turn out OK. Ma still took the same type of plane to Taichung, yesterday.

Presidential Office spokesman Tony Wang said that President Ma has instructed the Air Force to reinforce inspection of all the equipment to avoid recurrence of similar problems.

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