TRAVEL
Asiana 747 makes last stop
Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport yesterday became the final overseas stop for Asiana Airlines’ last Boeing 747-400 plane, as the South Korean carrier prepares to retire the giant commercial jet known as the Queen of the Skies. The 747-400, registered as HL7428, touched down in Taiwan at 11:24am after taking off from Incheon International Airport at 10:15am and was greeted by firetrucks festively spraying it with jets of water as it taxied its way to Gate D6. The gate was chosen for its symbolism, having been the same gate where China Airlines retired its last passenger 747-400 on March 20, 2021. At 1:34pm, HL7428 took off from Taoyuan for its final trip in the skies back to Incheon before it was set to be retired. The plane’s final voyage drew the attention and attendance of many aviation aficionados and fans of the airline, completely selling out. A Hong Kong-based South Korean passenger said he was taking his mother on the final voyage to remember a trip he took with his parents to the US 15 years ago on the same plane. Another traveler, a Japanese student enrolled at a Taiwanese university, said he bought a ticket to Incheon on the plane out of interest in the model. All passengers who flew on either leg of the 747-400’s final flight were presented with commemorative luggage tags, Taoyuan ground crew personnel said.
SOCIETY
Crosswalk changes planned
People would see more green-and-white pedestrian crossings and more distance allotted for turning vehicles at intersections if a planned traffic amendment focused on improving pedestrian safety is implemented, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said. If passed, the amendment to the Regulations for Road Traffic Signs, Markings and Signals would give clear protocols for local governments to follow, ministry official Chu Da-ching (朱大慶) said. The amendment advises local governments to redesign pedestrian crossings to reduce the number of traffic accidents around intersections, the ministry said. Measures include moving crossings further away from intersections and painting crossings white and green. The eye-catching green is meant to warn approaching vehicles to slow down as they approach the crossings, Chu said. Crosswalks should be designed 3m to 5m from intersections to give drivers turning longer to react to moving pedestrians and avoid blind spots, the measures say. Local municipalities currently only have a guideline introduced last year advising them how to improve pedestrian safety. Several cities and counties have already implemented some of the new traffic regulations and said they have had positive results.
SPACE
Taiwan joins satellite show
Taiwan last week took part in this year’s Satellite Exhibition in Washington, with a pavilion displaying the nation’s achievements in the fields of microwave antennas, key satellite components and materials. The Taiwan Space Pavilion aimed to showcase the nation’s satellite innovations and capabilities, the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US said. It was set up by Taiwan Space Agency (TASA), the Industrial Technology Research Institute and industry players. Tsai Hsin-hsuan (蔡欣璇), a TASA specialist in industry promotion, said that one of the highlights of the Taiwan pavilion was the TASA-developed Global Navigation Satellite System-Reflectometry (GNSS-R) employed by the domestically developed weather satellite Triton to collect GNSS signals reflected by the Earth’s surface. As for the Formosat-7 constellation, which was launched in 2019, Tsai said the combination of observation data collected by the GNSS reflectometry and the data provided by Formosat-7 can help improve the accuracy of severe weather forecasts. Participating Taiwanese manufacturer YTTEK Technology showcased its new product — a high- speed satellite modem — while Min Chun Precision exhibited a ground-based weather radar system. The Satellite Conference and Exhibition is the largest annual gathering for the satellite and space communities.
TRAGEDY: An expert said that the incident was uncommon as the chance of a ground crew member being sucked into an IDF engine was ‘minuscule’ A master sergeant yesterday morning died after she was sucked into an engine during a routine inspection of a fighter jet at an air base in Taichung, the Air Force Command Headquarters said. The officer, surnamed Hu (胡), was conducting final landing checks at Ching Chuan Kang (清泉崗) Air Base when she was pulled into the jet’s engine for unknown reasons, the air force said in a news release. She was transported to a hospital for emergency treatment, but could not be revived, it said. The air force expressed its deepest sympathies over the incident, and vowed to work with authorities as they
A tourist who was struck and injured by a train in a scenic area of New Taipei City’s Pingsi District (平溪) on Monday might be fined for trespassing on the tracks, the Railway Police Bureau said yesterday. The New Taipei City Fire Department said it received a call at 4:37pm on Monday about an incident in Shifen (十分), a tourist destination on the Pingsi Railway Line. After arriving on the scene, paramedics treated a woman in her 30s for a 3cm to 5cm laceration on her head, the department said. She was taken to a hospital in Keelung, it said. Surveillance footage from a
BITTERLY COLD: The inauguration ceremony for US president-elect Donald Trump has been moved indoors due to cold weather, with the new venue lacking capacity A delegation of cross-party lawmakers from Taiwan, led by Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), for the inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump, would not be able to attend the ceremony, as it is being moved indoors due to forecasts of intense cold weather in Washington tomorrow. The inauguration ceremony for Trump and US vice president-elect JD Vance is to be held inside the Capitol Rotunda, which has a capacity of about 2,000 people. A person familiar with the issue yesterday said although the outdoor inauguration ceremony has been relocated, Taiwan’s legislative delegation has decided to head off to Washington as scheduled. The delegation
Another wave of cold air would affect Taiwan starting from Friday and could evolve into a continental cold mass, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Temperatures could drop below 10°C across Taiwan on Monday and Tuesday next week, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. Seasonal northeasterly winds could bring rain, he said. Meanwhile, due to the continental cold mass and radiative cooling, it would be cold in northern and northeastern Taiwan today and tomorrow, according to the CWA. From last night to this morning, temperatures could drop below 10°C in northern Taiwan, it said. A thin coat of snow
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