Sat, May 12, 2007 page1

• Fighter crash kills crew, Singaporeans

  FLIGHT MISHAP An air force fighter plunged into a building housing military personnel from Singapore, killing a total of four people and injuring several others, some severely

  • By Jimmy Chuang / STAFF REPORTER
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  An Air Force fighter jet crashed into a military complex at a base in northern Taiwan yesterday, killing its two crew members and two Singaporean military personnel.

  Nine Singaporeans were also injured, two critically, when the two-seat F-5F Tiger fighter jet slammed into a building housing the Singaporean personnel, partially destroying the facility and engulfing it in flames.

  The Air Force confirmed that the F-5F took off from its base in Taitung County at 9am to participate in training for the annual Han Kuang series of military exercises at a base near Hukou Township (湖口), Hsinchu County.

  Three F-5s were involved in the exercise, but none of the pilots onboard the other aircraft witnessed the accident, because the jet that crashed was at the rear of the formation.

  As the jet finished its final run and prepared to return to its base, it suddenly lost control and crashed. Several eyewitnesses said they saw the jet fly by before crashing.

  The plane appeared to be heading toward factories and residential areas, but the pilots seemed to have attempted to avoid them and turned the aircraft toward a military complex nearby, eyewitnesses said.

  The plane exploded into a ball of fire on impact, instantly killing the 34-year-old pilot, Major Wei Tsu-yuan (魏子淵) and his co-pilot, 27-year-old Captain Chan Chia-chun (詹嘉鈞).

  Minister of National Defense Lee Jye (李傑) immediately grounded the Air Force's remaining 34 F-5s after the crash, but said that the Han Kuang exercises would continue.

  cause unknown

  "We need time to determine the cause of the crash," Lee said. "We have retrieved the aircraft's flight-data recorder and will examine it as soon as possible."

  "Meanwhile, the military exercises will continue, although we have grounded our remaining F-5 series of fighters for further examinations," he said.

  When the F-5F crashed into the military complex, it also killed two foreign military personnel and wounded nine on the ground.

  All of the ground personnel belong to the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF). SAF personnel have been training in Taiwan under the "Starlight Program," a military cooperation agreement between Taiwan and Singapore.

  Singapore has operated three military training camps in Taiwan since 1975: in Hengchun Township (恆春), Pingtung County; Douliu Township (斗六), Yunlin County; and Hukou Township in Hsinchu County.

  Each year, Singapore would send approximately 15,000 SAF personnel to Taiwan for training. In the past few years, however, only about 7,000 SAF personnel have continued training here as Singapore has begun to focus on closer ties with China.

  "Two wounded patients are in critical condition," said Dr. Chen Tim-mo (陳天牧), chief plastic surgeon at the Tri-Services General Hospital. "Both of them suffered serious burns."

  "One of the patients has burns over 50 percent of his body," Chen said. "The other has burns over 40 percent. The patient with 50 percent burns is in a coma, while we induced sleep in the other, so he would not feel so much pain."

  The Ministry of National Defense (MND) refused to release the names of the Singaporean military personnel, citing the confidential nature of the Starlight Program and the sensitive relationship between Taiwan and Singapore.

  Ministry of National Defense Spokesman Rear Admiral Wu Chi-fang (吳季方) also refused to comment on the Singaporean personnel when questioned by reporters.

  The Singaporean Ministry of Defense issued a brief statement yesterday confirming that two SAF personnel were dead, two were seriously injured and seven others were injured.

  It said it would be investigating the incident.

  Local firefighters only confirmed that "at least three heads and many body parts" were discovered at the crash site and sent to the hospital, but said that none of bodies were identifiable.

  "We lost two pilots. Singaporean troops also lost two, while another two are in the hospital," Lee said.

  Lawmakers were quick to interpret the crash through a political lens.

  Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Hsueh Ling (薛凌) told a press conference that senior MND officials should step down to take responsibility for the accident.

  Saying that such a crash was a "terrible" loss of human life, Hsueh urged the MND to stop all exercises immediately.

  Hsueh said "some soldiers" had complained to her before that the military insisted on conducting exercises despite the military's "outdated" equipment, saying that Lee should therefore assume responsibility.

  Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lin Yu-fang (林郁方) said that Lee should bear responsibility for the accident.

  "Accidents happen too often, and that has to do with the government's paying too little attention to the task of training pilots and to mechanical maintenance," Lin said.

  Lin said that the DPP government should focus more on maintenance and less on pushing the legislature to buy expensive new weapons.

  Additional reporting by Flora Wang,Shih Hsiu-chuan and Angelica Oung
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