The first Taiwanese pilot to circumnavigate the globe in a single-engine airplane died on Friday after the small plane he was flying crashed at San Gabriel Valley Airport in El Monte, California, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday.
Jeffrey Ying (應天華), 63, was the first pilot from the US’ Chinese-speaking community to fly around the world in a single-engine airplane in July 2010.
Ying, a Taiwanese expatriate, had been running a fleet of planes with his friends in the US, who also flew the aircraft annually for Double Ten National Day celebration events at Monterey Park in California since 2011, Chinese American Pilots and Aircraft Owners Association director James Bu (卜君力) said.
Photo: CNA
The crashed plane had a Republic of China national emblem painted on the fuselage and was similar to a decommissioned air force trainer aircraft.
The cause of the crash was likely related to mechanical problems, the ministry said, adding that it would provide Ying’s family whatever assistance it needed.
The Los Angeles Times said that Ying’s Pazmany PL-2 took off at about 9:30am, but crashed shortly afterward.
Video broadcast by local TV news outlets from the scene at a corner of the airport showed the aircraft’s nose flattened at an angle and its left wing crumpled.
Ying, who had more than 2,000 hours of flight experience, acquired the PL-2 many years ago, Bu said.
Ying remodeled the plane to look like a Taiwanese trainer and painted the code 5858 himself, Bu said.
In 2010, Ying and his wife, Renee Chen (陳小平), took 82 days to fly 41,843km across 26 countries. Ying became the 166th person to accomplish the endeavor, the Chinese-language United Daily News said.
Taiwanese Olympic badminton men’s doubles gold medalist Wang Chi-lin (王齊麟) and his new partner, Chiu Hsiang-chieh (邱相榤), clinched the men’s doubles title at the Yonex Taipei Open yesterday, becoming the second Taiwanese team to win a title in the tournament. Ranked 19th in the world, the Taiwanese duo defeated Kang Min-hyuk and Ki Dong-ju of South Korea 21-18, 21-15 in a pulsating 43-minute final to clinch their first doubles title after teaming up last year. Wang, the men’s doubles gold medalist at the 2020 and 2024 Olympics, partnered with Chiu in August last year after the retirement of his teammate Lee Yang
FALSE DOCUMENTS? Actor William Liao said he was ‘voluntarily cooperating’ with police after a suspect was accused of helping to produce false medical certificates Police yesterday questioned at least six entertainers amid allegations of evasion of compulsory military service, with Lee Chuan (李銓), a member of boy band Choc7 (超克7), and actor Daniel Chen (陳大天) among those summoned. The New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office in January launched an investigation into a group that was allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified medical documents. Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) has been accused of being one of the group’s clients. As the investigation expanded, investigators at New Taipei City’s Yonghe Precinct said that other entertainers commissioned the group to obtain false documents. The main suspect, a man surnamed
US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer began talks with high-ranking Chinese officials in Switzerland yesterday aiming to de-escalate a dispute that threatens to cut off trade between the world’s two biggest economies and damage the global economy. The US delegation has begun meetings in Geneva with a Chinese delegation led by Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng (何立峰), Xinhua News Agency said. Diplomats from both sides also confirmed that the talks have begun, but spoke anonymously and the exact location of the talks was not made public. Prospects for a major breakthrough appear dim, but there is
The number of births in Taiwan fell to an all-time monthly low last month, while the population declined for the 16th consecutive month, Ministry of the Interior data released on Friday showed. The number of newborns totaled 8,684, which is 704 births fewer than in March and the lowest monthly figure on record, the ministry said. That is equivalent to roughly one baby born every five minutes and an annual crude birthrate of 4.52 per 1,000 people, the ministry added. Meanwhile, 17,205 deaths were recorded, resulting in a natural population decrease of 8,521, the data showed. More people are also leaving Taiwan, with net
RSS