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Air force plane crashes in Taichung

Military personnel pull the wreckage of an air force T34-C trainer onto a truck. There were no serious injuries in the crash PHOTO: HSU KUO-CHEN, TAIPEI TIMES

An air force two-seat turboprop trainer yesterday crash-landed on a fruit farm in suburban Taichung after its engine stalled, officials from the air force general headquarters said.

The pilot of the No. 3407 T-34C trainer sustained slight neck injuries as a result and has been rushed to a local military hospital for treatment. The co-pilot of the plane was unharmed.

The crash-landing did not injure anyone on the ground because the plane was directed to a suburban district of Taichung City by pilot by Lieutenant Colonel Chi Wen-kuo (齊文國).

Chi, who was slightly injured in the neck, told the press that he and co-pilot Major Liu Chin-hsiang (劉金祥) could have chosen to eject to safety but that they did not do so because the plane might plunge into a nearby densely-populated area if it went into a free fall. Chi is under treatment at the military's major hospital in Taichung.

The two pilots were highly praised by air force commander-in-chief General Li Tien-yu (李天羽) for keeping the damage to a minimum. Li went to Taichung yesterday to see Chi in the hospital.

Major Liu Chin-hsiang, the co-pilot of an air force trainer, talks after his plane crashed in Taichung yesterday. PHOTO: KUO REI-CHENG, TAIPEI TIMES

The plane caused only partial damage to the fruit farm, after its speed had been reduced by two small collisions -- one with a sedan and another with an electric pole.

The accident happened at 10:15am yesterday shortly after the T-34C took off from Taichung's Shuinan airport for a test flight after regular maintenance.

The air force general headquarters said according to the plane's pilots, the aircraft's engine was hit by three birds and the engine stopped running afterwards.

"The cause of the accident has yet to be determined by a task force. But initial investigations show that bird strikes might be the cause," a spokesman for the air force said.

Yesterday's accident was the first involving a T-34C trainer in six years. In 1996, another T-34C crash-landed on a riverbed in Kaohsiung, with two pilots aboard slightly injured as a result.

The first deadly crash involving a T-34C was recorded in 1988 in Kaohsiung. The crash killed not only the two pilots on board but also three civilians on the ground. The T-34C is the air force's primary rotary-wing trainer, providing basic training to student pilots at the Kaohsiung-based air force academy.

The air force started using the US-made T-34C in 1985 to replace the aging domestically-built TCH-1 trainer. It bought a total of 44 T-34Cs, making Taiwan the major user of the aircraft outside the US.

For the air force, the T-34C is a reliable trainer, which can emulate the kinds of flight maneuver that jet fighters perform.
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