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Dhaka: An Eva Air captain allegedly lost his temper and punched the first officer multiple times during taxi before takeoff, said the airline in a statement upon suspending the pilot and opening an investigation.
According to media reports, the incident occurred at Los Angeles International Airport when the aircraft was taxiing for takeoff. The captain was the pilot flying (PF), and he was going faster than the speed limit of 30 knots.
The first officer, a Malaysian national, repeatedly warned the captain, a Taiwanese national surnamed "Wen," to reduce thrust and decrease the taxi speed. But the PF kept going, without responding to the first officer's warnings.
The first officer, then, applied brakes to reduce the taxi speed in accordance with the standard operating procedure. This intervention infuriated the captain, and he punched the first officer at least four times, leaving swelling and bruising on the back of his left hand.
The flight later took off, continued its journey towards Taipei, and reached there safely, without any further incident.
A whistleblower said they were disappointed that an emergency response plan was not activated immediately and the pilot exhibiting "emotional unstable" behavior was allowed to continue the flight, putting the passengers' safety at risk.
Eva Air said it had suspended the pilot and launched an investigation immediately following the incident and is still gathering the details of what happened. After completing the investigation, the suspended pilot would be referred to the airline's disciplinary review board for further review.
Data from the aircraft's quick access recorder indicated the aircraft was not overspeeding and was taxiing in compliance with regulated taxi speed. Recordings from the QAR have been sent to regulatory authorities, the airline said.
The Civil Aviation Administration in Taiwan said it opened its own investigation into the incident, and it would charge legal penalties if it finds guilt of any of the crews.
Neither the official statements nor the media reports mentioned the flight involved or the date of this incident. Flightradar24's ADS-B data shows Eva Air currently operates three daily scheduled flights between Taipei and Los Angeles, deploying the Boeing 777-300ER.
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