Over 20 hurt as Taiwan plane nears S Korea

Seoul, Nov 16: Over 20 people aboard a Taiwanese airliner were hurt when the plane changed course to avoid another jet just prior to landing at an airport on South Korea's Cheju Island today, aviation officials said.

Some of those aboard the Far Eastern Air Transport Boeing 757 aircraft may have suffered broken bones and were taken to hospital on the southern resort island, they said.

Airline officials said an alarm went off as the jetliner was beginning its descent, indicating another plane was in the area, and causing it to change course.

''We suspect there was a Thai Airlines aircraft in the same area, so we stopped the descent and several passengers and crew received minor injuries,'' a Far Eastern Air Transport spokeswoman said, speaking by telephone from Taiwan.

An official at Cheju airport could not immediately confirm whether the Thai jet was in the same area as the Taiwanese plane.

''It was because of turbulence. Nothing went wrong with the plane itself,'' the official said.

Officials for the airline in Taiwan said its flight EF 306 made an emergency landing on Cheju and 21 were injured, including 16 passengers and five crew members. There were 129 passengers and eight crew members on board.

Reuters