Spokesman Says Plane Dived To Avoid Collision

Taiwanese airline Far Eastern Air Transport says 21 people were hurt on a flight from Taipei Wednesday.

Initial reports the airplane's gyrations were caused by turbulence were wrong, says a company spokesmen. The aircraft was descended rapidly in response to a traffic alert to avoid a collision with another aircraft.

TCAS is a traffic collision avoidance system installed in most airliners throughout the world. It gives pilots information on other aircraft in the vicinity. If a collision appears imminent... the system directs the pilot to change the plane's flight path away from the other aircraft.

In this case, the plane's TCAS directed a rapid descent as the plane neared South Korea's Jeju island.

There were 137 passengers and crew aboard. Airline spokesmen had no information about the other aircraft involved.

Of the 21 injured, five were crewmembers. All were treated at a local hospital after an uneventful landing. None of the injuries were life-threatening.

Sounds like a good reason to keep those seat belts on...

FMI: www.fat.com.tw/en/Ewebpage_beta3.asp