A Dapeng Airlines plane that went missing two days ago has been spotted in a mountainous area in the eastern county of Hualien, Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) officials said yesterday.
The BN-2 light utility aircraft was spotted from the air at 9:55am, about 30km west of Yuli Township (玉里), the CAA said.
There was no sign of the three people who were on board the aircraft when it went missing, according to the CAA.
Photo: CNA
The aircraft appeared to be mostly intact and seemed to have made a forced landing on the mountain at an altitude of 2,800m, Dapeng vice president Ouyang Chung-heng (歐陽忠恆) said.
“No significant damage to the body of the aircraft was noticed, but it is hard to say for sure because we’ve got only a blurry photo from the air,” Ouyang added.
Helicopters from the National Rescue Command Center have been dispatched to join the rescue effort, transport officials said.
Meanwhile, a rescue team was sent on foot to try and reach the plane by evening, the center said.
The aircraft was on an aerial photography mission when it lost contact with air traffic controllers on Thursday. Those aboard were identified as pilot Hsueh Chen-hao (薛晨浩), co-pilot Chang Ming-ching (張明欽) and aerial photographer Chien Yu-hsin (錢煜新).
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