Mandarin Airlines Flight 1261 incident

Mandarin Airlines Flight 1261 is Mandarin Airlines' regular flight from Taipei Songshan to Kinmen Shangyi Airport. In the early morning of 26 December 2006, after a Fokker 100 airliner with registration B-12297 had made its approach, landed and parked at Kinmen Shangyi Airport, ground maintenance staff discovered that the aircraft was missing a main wheel on its left side; in accordance with procedures they notified Taipei Songshan Airport to help search for the relevant parts, and notified the Civil Aeronautics Administration of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications to intervene and investigate. There were no casualties in this incident.

Accident investigation

According to the findings of the Executive Yuan's Aviation Safety Council, the wheel axle of the aircraft involved was not damaged, so it was classified as a flight safety irregularity, and the authority to investigate was handed to the Civil Aeronautics Administration for follow-up investigation.

The day after the incident (the 27th), the Civil Aeronautics Administration stated that it had preliminarily determined "human error"; as for the exact cause, further investigation was needed. The Civil Aeronautics Administration would penalise Mandarin Airlines and also required Mandarin Airlines to carry out a comprehensive inspection of its aircraft to ensure flight safety. The Civil Aeronautics Administration further pointed out that the Fokker 100 is a relatively old aircraft type without a tyre pressure indicator, so when the aircraft's wheel fell off, the pilots could not know immediately.

In addition, the aircraft is designed with 2 tyres to share the weight; the flight yesterday (the 26th) was the earliest flight on a Tuesday and was not at full load; had it been at full load, the consequences might have been unimaginable.

Mandarin Airlines stated that the wheel that fell off had only been removed for maintenance the previous evening; it was judged that the maintenance personnel had not properly tightened the wheel bolts or had not reinserted the wheel safety pin, causing the wheel to fall off. The personnel who had failed in their duties would be disciplined, and the relevant maintenance procedures would be reviewed in order to maintain flight safety.