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Pilot error likely caused Friday's crash: Air Force

Pilot error likely caused Friday's crash of an Air Force F-5F jet, but the pilots attempted to spare as many lives on the ground as possible, the Air Force said yesterday.

"A fighter jet enthusiast's pictures helped us a lot with our investigation. His pictures showed that our pilots decided to sacrifice themselves to spare as many lives on the ground as possible. That was genuine heroism," said Major General Liu Chen-wu (劉震武), chief of staff at Air Force Command Headquarters, at a press conference yesterday.

The pilots, Major Wei Tsu-yuan (魏子淵) and Captain Chan Chia-chun (詹嘉鈞), died in the crash. Their fighter slammed into a military complex in Hukou Township (湖口), Hsinchu County, housing Singaporean military personnel, killing two and wounding nine.

At the press conference yesterday, Liu showed a transcript of radio conversations between ground control staff and the pilots and displayed a map of the jet's route.

Friday's exercise included four F-16s, four indigenous defense fighters and four F-5Fs. Wei and Chan were flying the fourth F-5F.

Wei and Chan reported a "spacing pass" during the practice bombing mission, Liu said.

"A `spacing pass' means the pilot could not locate the target and needed to disengage," Liu said. "It means that Wei and Chan tried to find the target and did not notice that they were flying too slowly and too low."

The civilian's pictures showed that Wei and Chan were still trying to finish their job just before they crashed, Liu said.

When they discovered something was wrong, they still had a chance to eject but likely decided to continue trying to control the aircraft to avoid casualties on the ground, he said.

Wei and Chan's aircraft was manufactured in 1981 and underwent scheduled maintenance on Feb. 23, Liu said.

After the maintenance operation, the aircraft was flown for 95 hours, he said.

"Wei and Chan likely could have avoided a crash by using the full thrust of their engine, although they did not do so," Liu said. "We will continue our investigation to determine whether they could not do so because of engine failure."

When asked whether any high-ranking officers would resign or face disciplinary proceedings because of the accident, Marine Lieutenant General Hsu Tai-sheng (徐台生), director of the Ministry of National Defense's Joint Training Program Development Center, said that it was too early to determine whether human error caused the crash.

Wei and Chan took off from their base in Taitung at 9:01am. At 9:38am, Wei and Chan arrived at the practice bombing site, Liu said.

At 9:37am, an F-16 pilot told ground controllers that he had visual contact with Wei and Chan's F-5F, which was about 600m above him, Liu said.

At 9:38am, Wei reported that he could not clearly see the target, but radar showed that he was still trying to locate the target and accomplish his mission, Liu said.

At 9:39:01am, Wei reported the "spacing pass" to ground controllers, Liu said.

Ground controllers then discovered the aircraft was in the wrong position and radioed Wei and Chan, shouting: "Danger! Up! Up! Up!"

This was the last conversation between the pilots and ground controllers as the plane crashed at 9:39:32am, Liu said.

A blogger who identifies himself as M.J. Klein said in his blog www.thenhbushman.blogspot.com that he had taken photos of the F-5F immediately before the crash.

Klein said he was interviewed by military investigators and hoped to show that the crash was not caused by human error.

However, he said that he would not make his photos public before the military had finished its investigation.

"I saw the jet in its final moments. The pilots had time to eject. They chose not to. Instead, they flew their aircraft into the ground on the base, thus sparing countless lives in the crowded Hukou area that would have been lost in the crash and subsequent explosion. When I look at the photos of the crashed aircraft, I see two heroes in the cockpit," Klein wrote.

The defense ministry would not confirm if the pictures displayed at yesterday's press conference were taken by Klein.
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