China Airlines pilots had a record of making daring decisions to land in bad weather conditions, one of the company's captains alleged yesterday.
The Taiwanese senior captain, who declined to be named, revealed the problems in an interview with a television station, which is part of the Eastern Multimedia Group, in Taiwan yesterday.
He said one of his colleagues had decided to land in the United Arab Emirates in zero visibility in June last year. The airport management later lodged a complaint with China Airlines.
Captain Gerardo Lettich, the Italian pilot of the MD-11 aircraft, which crashed and overturned at Chek Lap Kok last week, is alleged to have ignored a call by his co-pilot to abort the landing seconds before the crash.
Flight CI642 struck its right wing on the runway and overturned in flames on August 22 when a No 8 signal was hoisted for Typhoon Sam.
Three people were killed and 214 injured. Last night, 22 remained in hospital, one in critical condition.