TransAsia operates six ATR 72-500s and four ATR 72-600s including the ATR 72-600 which crashed Wednesday. Uri Air has 12 ATR 72-600s.
Fred Wu, President of TransAsia Airways, told journalists that the airline was complying with the temporary halt of the company’s ATR 72 fleet.
“The airline, as requested from the CAA, is specifically checking all ATR aircraft in the fleet. They have not finished checking one until this morning,” he said. “Once we have one finished, CAA will confirm the results before we start flying that aircraft again.”
The CAA has also prohibited TransAsia from applying for new traffic rights for a year, according to Taiwan state news agency CNA.
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“The ATR is the workhorse of the Asia Pacific turboprop fleet. It is popular among airlines for its relatively low operational costs, particularly in a high-fuel-cost environment, and the type has a dominant market share,” Flightglobal’s Waldron told CNN.
However, he would not speculate whether the latest episode would affect the model’s continued popularity.
“It’s far too early to say exactly what happened to GE235. The flight will be the subject of a lengthy investigation that will look at factors such as cockpit communications and the aircraft’s performance.”
