The air force is looking forward to flying President Chen Shui-bian (
"Transporting passengers safely is the only aim of the Air Force's charter flight fleet. We [our personnel and our aircraft] are always ready for all kinds of missions upon receiving orders from our superior officers," said Colonel Chen Du-yung (
The current "Air Force One," a Boeing 737-800, which the president will take today, was purchased in 2000 and a "C-check," the strictest safety check for jetliners, was performed and completed in April.
The aircraft was also repainted as a "C-check" requires the removal of paint for a complete examination of the aircraft's structure.
Two "winglets," which can be seen on Boeing 747-400s' wing tips, were also installed to help save fuel.
Prior to today's flight to Palau, the aircraft has never been on a mission to a foreign country.
The Presidential Office said that state-of-the-art navigation, radar and communication systems had been installed to enable the president to keep in contact with the country's national security and warfare systems and give orders whenever necessary.
There are a total of three cabins onboard. In addition to the presidential seats, there is also a business class area for the heads of government and an economy class section for members of the president's staff and presidential guards.
The Presidential Office said that there are only four seats in the presidential section, and that Chen usually sits in the left rear one. The aircraft carries 116 passengers in total, including six cabin crew.
Chen Du-yung said the aircraft is not actually called "Air Force One" but should be called an "administrative charter aircraft," and belongs to the Air Force's charter flight fleet. Its mission is to transport the president, the vice president and other heads of government.
The fleet was established in Nanjing, China, on Dec. 1, 1946 and was relocated to Taiwan in 1948 as the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Government were losing ground to the Chinese communist forces.
Former US president Harry S. Truman presented the late president and dictator Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) with a Douglas C-47 Skytrain and Chiang made it the first "Air Force One."
Chiang and his wife then used this aircraft for a visit to the Philippines in 1949. That was also the first time that "Air Force One" had flown abroad, but Chiang was not the president at the time.
At the time, the fleet belonged to the Presidential Office instead of the Air Force Command Headquarters. Whenever the fleet was carrying out a mission, the airport would be temporarily closed and secured by the military police and secret service agents.
On Dec. 5, 1971, the fleet purchased a Boeing 720, complete with a meeting room and a presidential bedroom, from Northwestern Airlines to replace the C-47, and it began service in 1972. The Boeing 720 was retired on Sept. 27, 1991 with an honorable "zero defect" record.
In 1981, in addition to the Boeing 720, the fleet also accepted a donation of four Boeing 727-100s from China Airlines. The fleet also purchased three Dutch Fokker-50 propeller aircraft, which are used mainly by the premier.
Chen Du-yung said that prior to the purchase of the 737-800, the Air Force once leased a Boeing 737-400 from China Airlines.
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) and Chunghwa Telecom yesterday confirmed that an international undersea cable near Keelung Harbor had been cut by a Chinese ship, the Shunxin-39, a freighter registered in Cameroon. Chunghwa Telecom said the cable had its own backup equipment, and the incident would not affect telecommunications within Taiwan. The CGA said it dispatched a ship under its first fleet after receiving word of the incident and located the Shunxin-39 7 nautical miles (13km) north of Yehliu (野柳) at about 4:40pm on Friday. The CGA demanded that the Shunxin-39 return to seas closer to Keelung Harbor for investigation over the
National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology (NKUST) yesterday promised it would increase oversight of use of Chinese in course materials, following a social media outcry over instances of simplified Chinese characters being used, including in a final exam. People on Threads wrote that simplified Chinese characters were used on a final exam and in a textbook for a translation course at the university, while the business card of a professor bore the words: “Taiwan Province, China.” Photographs of the exam, the textbook and the business card were posted with the comments. NKUST said that other members of the faculty did not see
The Taipei City Government yesterday said contractors organizing its New Year’s Eve celebrations would be held responsible after a jumbo screen played a Beijing-ran television channel near the event’s end. An image showing China Central Television (CCTV) Channel 3 being displayed was posted on the social media platform Threads, sparking an outcry on the Internet over Beijing’s alleged political infiltration of the municipal government. A Taipei Department of Information and Tourism spokesman said event workers had made a “grave mistake” and that the Television Broadcasts Satellite (TVBS) group had the contract to operate the screens. The city would apply contractual penalties on TVBS
An apartment building in New Taipei City’s Sanchong District (三重) collapsed last night after a nearby construction project earlier in the day allegedly caused it to tilt. Shortly after work began at 9am on an ongoing excavation of a construction site on Liuzhang Street (六張街), two neighboring apartment buildings tilted and cracked, leading to exterior tiles peeling off, city officials said. The fire department then dispatched personnel to help evacuate 22 residents from nine households. After the incident, the city government first filled the building at No. 190, which appeared to be more badly affected, with water to stabilize the
RSS