Military rescue teams yesterday were searching for five air force personnel who were aboard a helicopter that crashed into the sea off eastern Taiwan during a rescue mission on Monday night.
The air force said six people were on board the Sikorsky S-70C-6 Super Blue Hawk helicopter, which went down off Lanyu (蘭嶼), also known as Orchid Island.
Airman Tsai Yi-che (蔡宜哲), 28, who was standing near the rear cabin door during the operation, was flung off the helicopter as it spiralled out of control before crashing into the sea.
Photo: Taipei Times
Tsai was immediately rescued by crewmembers on a fishing boat nearby, the air force said.
He was then taken to a Taitung County hospital by a coast guard vessel.
Tsai only suffered slight injuries and returned to his base yesterday morning, the air force said.
The Ministry of National Defense said the five missing personnel were wearing rescue suits. The air force and the army have launched search missions, and the first 72 hours are considered the most crucial.
Colonel Hsieh Mao-sung (謝茂淞), deputy chief of the air force’s supervision division, told a press conference yesterday morning that the S-70C helicopter took off from Chiayi Air Force Base at 6:42pm on Monday to rescue an Indonesian fisherman who was suffering chest pains on a fishing boat near Orchid Island.
Hsieh said the helicopter landed at Pingtung Air Force Base to refill before heading toward Orchid Island. At 9:14pm, as the helicopter was approaching the boat, it suddenly disappeared off the radar, the air force said.
The helicopter’s last communication with the base was: “Have spotted the target, ready to launch the rope sling.”
The accident occurred off Huatung Basin, which is known for its unstable currents as the ocean reaches depths of 4,000m, a coast guard officer said.
The pilot, Major Lu Cheng (陸正), 36; co-pilot Captain Hung Shih-hao (洪釋豪), 29; and three airmen — Tsai Kao-hui (蔡國輝), 52, Chen Chun-hung (陳俊宏), 37, and Chen Ping-hung (陳秉鴻), 27, were still missing as of press time.
Hsieh said five navy ships and eight coast guard vessels had been dispatched to the area for the search-and-rescue operation, while the air force had deployed S-70C helicopters, C-130 Hercules aircraft, E-2K Hawkeye aircraft and AS-365 helicopters.
The air force has purchased a total of 18 S-70C helicopters from the US since 1986. The four Super Blue Hawks in service were delivered in 1998.
This was the second crash involving a S-70C, the air force said. A S-70C-1 crashed into a mountain in November 1995 in bad weather.
Additional reporting by staff writer and CNA
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