Rescuers yesterday recovered the remains of three military personnel missing after a helicopter crashed on Tuesday in Kaohsiung County, raising the confirmed death toll to all eight people aboard.
Five of the bodies were recovered at the crash site on Tuesday, but rescuers did not locate the remaining three until noon yesterday, when they were discovered lodged in the girders of the radio tower, with which the helicopter collided in bad weather.
Search and rescue teams also recovered the aircraft's flight recorders, or "black boxes," and have turned them over to investigators looking into the crash.
The army's remaining 31 UH-1H Iroquois helicopters have been grounded since yesterday.
"I am not a pilot, so I cannot give a clear answer why this helicopter would go down. But since this model is an old one, it is quite possible that bad weather was the main cause of this tragedy. No matter what, all UH-1H choppers will be grounded for a detailed investigation," Minister of National Defense Lee Jye (
Lee and Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) arrived in Kaohsiung to meet victims' family members. Lee promised compensation of at least NT$15 million (US$453,360) for each officer who died in the crash.
Su told family members that he had asked Lee to be generous with compensation, and do his best to help them.
"I am not quite sure about the details of related regulations regarding compensation for cases like this. But I promise that the Ministry of National Defense will do its best to help you," the premier said.
Lee said that a detailed investigation would be made public at a press conference next Tuesday.
The rescue crews discovered the three missing service members who had been aboard the helicopter yesterday morning when they climbed up the 45m tall tower, where some of the helicopter debris was stuck.
The bodies of deputy brigade commander Colonel Lin Kuo-jun (林國俊), Major Chu Chi-hua (朱志華) and the helicopter's pilot, Major Liu Tien-shun (
The discovery raised the death toll to eight.
The helicopter that crashed on Tuesday was manufactured on April 30, 1974. Under cooperation with US-based Bell Helicopter, the air force manufactured a total of 118 UH-1Hs since 1969.
After Tuesday's crash, 31 of the helicopters remain in service.
Some pilots call the UH-1H the "Flying Coffin" because it does not have any electronic devices to help pilots during extreme weather conditions.
In addition, its engine does not have the horsepower to make it maneuverable at high altitudes.
President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) yesterday also expressed condolences to the families of the soldiers killed.
Additional reporting by Ko Shu-ling
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