TransAsia Airways (Taipei Songshan) is facing either a partial or complete revocation of its Air Operators Certificate (AOC) should a Taiwanese Aviation Safety Council investigation into its operations reveal any regulatory violations.
The threat comes a week after the crash of a TransAsia ATR72-600, B-22816 (cn 1141), minutes after take-off from Taipei Songshan airport. Though 15 people were rescued alive, 40 occupants were killed with three still missing. Preliminary investigations suggest the flight crew may have shutdown the port side engine when its starboard one had failed.
Following the crash, the TCAA ordered all Taiwanese-registered ATR72s grounded and inspected to establish their compliance with local regulations and requirements.
Speaking to the Taipei Times, the director of the Taiwanese Civil Aerospace Authority's (TCAA) air transport division, Han Chen-hua, said that should TransAsia's operational oversight be found wanting, any such penalty would not, however, affect the carrier's budget subsidiary, V air (Taipei Taoyuan).
Han added that TransAsia was already barred from applying for additional international traffic rights following the crash of a TransAsia ATR72-500 in July last year which killed 48 of the 58 passengers and crew on-board.
Prior to the crash, Transasia has used its fleet of six ATR72-500s and five -600s on domestic flights connecting Taipei Songshan with Hualien, Kaohsiung, Kinmen, Taichung Ching Chuan Kang, and Penghu.
