Formosa Airlines has suffered its third fatal Dornier 228 accident in five years, with the loss of one of the Taiwanese regional airline's 19-seat 228-200s on approach to the Taiwanese island of Matsu. The aircraft hit high ground during a visual approach in poor-weather, killing all 16 passengers and crew.
The latest accident occurred on 10 August and follows two other fatal Dornier 228 crashes in the past five years. Both involved crashes into the sea: in April 1996, one force-landed in the sea during a storm, killing five, and in February 1993, another crashed in bad weather, killing six.
The Matsu runway, which has no instrument-landing system (ILS), lies between a mountain on one side and a hill on the other. Authorities are levelling the hill and widening the runway. Taiwan Airlines, which also flies 228s to Matsu, says the mountain is too close for the ILS to work, so all aircraft are landed visually.
Source: Flight International
