Taiwan's China Airlines names new chairman after blaze

The board passed the proposal in which Chao Kuo-shuai, president of the airline, replaced Philip Wei as company chairman.
Wei had resigned.

"All the directors cleared the proposal and named president Chao Kuo-shuai as the chairman," airline spokesman Johnson Sun told reporters.

The reshuffle came after a China Airlines Boeing 737-800 caught fire last month shortly after landing at the main airport on the southern Japanese island of Okinawa.

All 165 passengers and crew fled to safety with just minutes to spare.

It was the latest setback for China Airlines, which has reported nine fatal accidents since 1970.

The Japanese transport ministry found that the bolt had come off a slat and pierced a fuel tank, causing a massive leakage of oil that caught fire when it made contact with the hot engine.