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No sign yet of air force's missing plane and pilots

There was no progress in the search for the air force's missing AT-3 jet trainer yesterday, which the Air Force General Headquarters attributed to bad weather conditions.

Heavy rains and poor visibility in mountainous regions forced both rescue helicopters and ground-search teams to stop looking for the twin-seat plane and its two pilots, missing since Wednesday afternoon.

The search is scheduled to resume today in the mountainous areas around Taitung, where the air force said the plane had lost radar contact with its base.

The air force said the plane is still listed as missing, not crashed, because no wreckage from it has been found.

The AT-3 -- No. 0827 -- disappeared from radar at 2:48pm Wednesday, 34 minutes after taking off from the air force academy in Kaohsiung County's Kanshan for a routine training flight.

There has been speculation that bad weather might have contributed to the plane's disappearance but the air force insists that no conclusion could be made until the plane and its crew are found.

Air force commander-in-chief General Li Tien-yu (李天羽) visited the families of the two missing pilots yesterday to express his concern for them.

Li is widely expected to become the next chief of the general staff, although his career might be hurt because of the series of plane crashes.

Former air force chief Huang Hsien-jung (黃顯榮) lost his chance to become chief of the general staff because of a spate of crashes during his term.

Li's main competitor for the top military position is former air force commander-in-chief General Chen Chao-ming (陳肇敏).

Chen is currently the vice minister of national defense for administrative affairs. He achieved an unprecedented zero-crash record in the one year he commanded the air force.
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