China Airlines Apologizes for Fire

Filed in archive Aviation News on August 21, 2007

On Tuesday, Chao Kuo-shuai, CEO of China Airlines, attempted to reverse the damaged to the airline's already tarnished reputation by apologizing and handing out money to the 165 passengers who escaped a fire on one of their airplanes. However, many of the survivors insist the damage has already been done.

"I apologise from the bottom of my heart," Chao told the Taiwanese in the southern Japanese city, giving each one a red envelope containing 100 dollars. "I feel ashamed for causing so much trouble."

All 165 passengers and crew, most of them from Taiwan, survived the blaze, which erupted just moments after the Boeing 737-800 landed. Panicked travellers slid down emergency chutes and raced to safety before flames engulfed the jet.

It was the latest setback for China Airlines, which has suffered a series of fatal accidents, most recently in 2002.

"I feel for their efforts, but I can't be satisfied," one of the Taiwanese tourists said. "My luggage and all my other things were burnt up."

A company spokeswoman in tokyo said the firm was separately considering compensation to the tourists for damage to luggage and other belongings on the aircraft.

In Taiwan, one woman who survived the inferno said after returning home: "I dare not fly China Airlines any more."

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