False alarm forces AirAsia flight to land
Central News Agency
2014-02-28 03:35 PM
Taipei, Feb. 28 (CNA) An AirAsia flight was forced to return to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport shortly after takeoff Saturday after a fire alarm onboard went off in error, according to airport officials.
The Malaysian budget carrier's flight AK-1519 departed from Taoyuan at 9:50 a.m. for Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, returning 20 minutes later at 10:10 a.m. with all 133 passengers safe.
During the flight, a fire alarm for the aircraft's No. 2 engine turned on suddenly, triggering the automatic fire suppression system, said Wen Yung-sung, vice president of Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport Co.
The incident was determined to have been caused by a false fire alarm possibly linked to signal errors, said Wen.
The captain decided to steer the plane back to the airport after the alarm continued despite the emergency response, he said.
An initial inspection of the aircraft determined that there had not been any fire, Wen said, adding that further inspections will be conducted to find the source of the problem.
(By Bien Chin-feng, Chiu Chun-chin and Y.F. Low)
