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EVA Air slammed for flying over typhoon

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A screenshot photo from flightrader24, a flight tracking app.

EVA Air slammed for flying over typhoon

A screenshot photo from flightrader24, a flight tracking app.

Typhoon Megi ravaged Taiwan on Tuesday and disrupted flights nearly the entire day. The typhoon made landfall early Tuesday with strong gusts and heavy rainfall, forcing airlines to either cancel or postpone flights for safety reasons. However, a number of EVA Air commercial flights carrying a total of over a thousand passengers were reported to have made several "successful landings” during the typhoon, in particular when the eye of the storm was hovering over northern Taiwan.

The pilots were celebrated for their courage to attempt landing under such conditions and praised for their “exceptional flying skills” in executing smooth landings. But criticism mounted as more people began to see the decision to fly over the typhoon as “extremely dangerous” and “disregarded passenger safety completely.” Some EVA Air aircraft were said to be unable to carry out smooth landings due to the effects of the typhoon.

On Tuesday, a total of 717 international and domestic flights were cancelled due to the typhoon, with more than ten thousand passengers being affected. Later in the afternoon, netizens posted images from a flight tracking application on the popular bulletin board system “PTT,” saying that more than ten EVA Air planes appeared to be hovering over the island as they waited to make a landing at the Taoyuan International Airport during the typhoon.

Another netizen posted on the same forum, claiming to be an EVA Air flight attendant onboard a flight heading back to Taipei from Hong Kong, saying that her flight was extremely bumpy with a few other flight attendants and passengers receiving injuries during several failed landing attempts.

The company later denied the accusations of injuries during the flights and stated that its flight crew strictly adheres to international aviation safety rules and refers to the data provided by the air traffic control tower and Central Weather Bureau. The company said legal action would be taken against those spreading false rumors on the online forums and social media.

Department of Air Transportation of Kainan University Assistant Professor Alex Lu indicated that whether a plane can take off and land is based on a professional assessment of weather conditions at the airport instead of the weather conditions observed by civilians and is not affected by the local government’s decision to implement a typhoon closure.