The Republic of China (ROC) Air Force has denied media reports that it was responsible for the Taiwan passenger flight crash on July 23 that killed 48 people.

The China Post reports the air force has refuted claims that it denied permission for the flight to land on the more sophisticated Runway 2 of the Magong Airport, which is usually reserved for military aircraft, as ‘ungrounded accusations’.

The ROC Air Force was also reported as stating that all military aircraft were grounded on that day due to bad weather, but the ATC had full control over the landing and take-off of all aircraft.

"The ROC Air Force refutes Next Magazine’s ‘ungrounded accusations’ it was responsible for the crash."

The ROC Air Force’s response comes a day after a local newspaper, Next Magazine, reported that the pilot of the flight sought permission for landing on Runway 2, and not on Runway 20 due to poor visibility around the airport.

The Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) has confirmed that it received a request from the pilot to land, but had to wait for the air force’s permission before giving the request approval or denial.

The CAA also stated that the pilot had decided to continue landing on the designated Runway 20 before it could respond to his request.

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The TransAsia Airways Flight GE222 crashed near Magong airport in the Penghu islands on July 23. It was carrying 54 passengers and four crewmembers. Only ten onboard the flight survived the crash.

The pilot of the aircraft Lee Yi-liang, who made the runway-change request to the ATC, was also killed in the crash.

Defence Technology