Taiwan’s defence chief rejects Hong Kong’s explanation for turning back government flight to Pratas Islands
- Yen Te-fa questions ‘dangerous activities’ that forced flight to turn around
- Civil Aviation Department says staff were just following procedure when setting 26,000-foot minimum altitude for plane that had 25,000-foot ceiling
Taiwan’s defence chief has rejected the explanation by Hong Kong authorities for turning back a government flight from the self-ruled island before it could reach a disputed land mass in the South China Sea.
On Friday, Taiwanese Minister of National Defence Yen Te-fa called on officials not to “disrupt the order of international aviation” over a flight to the Pratas Islands a day before. The aircraft was carrying military and coastguard personnel, but was denied entry to Hong Kong airspace.
The plane operated by UNI Air was travelling to the islands when the local aviation authority told its counterpart in Taipei there were “dangerous activities” below 26,000 feet.
As the aircraft was not certified to fly any higher than 25,000 feet, it was forced to return to the southern port city of Kaohsiung.
Yen challenged the official explanation from Hong Kong, and said an investigation had failed to discover anything that might have posed a threat to aircraft.
