A lightweight aircraft plunged into Dapeng Bay in Pingtung County yesterday morning, killing both people on board.
The victims were identified as 66-year-old pilot Ke Ming-hsiu (柯銘修) and 32-year-old trainee Yang Tsung-ru (楊宗儒).
An initial police investigation showed that the Rans Designs S-6 lightweight aircraft, Flight No. PA 2002, took off from an airstrip at Dapeng Bay at 10:10am. It was reported to have fallen into the lagoon at 10:40am.
Photo: Hou Cheng-hsu, Taipei Times
According to rescuers, the aircraft was almost submerged, forcing them to dive beneath the surface to retrieve the victims.
Ke and Yang were sent to Fuying University Hospital and Antai Tian-Sheng Memorial Hospital respectively. Both were pronounced dead before 12pm after sustaining severe head injuries.
The Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) said that it has informed the Aviation Safety Council, which is in charge of investigating the causes of aircraft crashes nationwide.
Records from the administration showed that the aircraft was manufactured in 1997 by US-based Rans Inc and imported by the Chinese Taipei Microlight Association in February 2007.
The association also secured CAA proof that the aircraft had passed inspection, with the current proof valid until Aug. 30 this year.
The administration added that Ke maintained a license to operate a lightweight aircraft that would not expire until Aug. 21 next year.
The pilot was qualified to train students and to administer flying tests as well, it added.
The association was established in September 2004. The association used the air space at Donggang Township (東港) at the Dapeng Bay National Scenic Area to fly lightweight airplanes after its event manual was approved by the Ministry of Transportation and Communications and Sports Administration in July 2007.
Deputy Minister Tseng Dar-jen (曾大仁) said that this was an unfortunate accident, adding that the government would address related safety issues after the council concludes its investigation.
AGING: While Japan has 22 submarines, Taiwan only operates four, two of which were commissioned by the US in 1945 and 1946, and transferred to Taiwan in 1973 Taiwan would need at least 12 submarines to reach modern fleet capabilities, CSBC Corp, Taiwan chairman Chen Cheng-hung (陳政宏) said in an interview broadcast on Friday, citing a US assessment. CSBC is testing the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤, Narwhal), which is scheduled to be delivered to the navy next month or in July. The Hai Kun has completed torpedo-firing tests and is scheduled to undergo overnight sea trials, Chen said on an SET TV military affairs program. Taiwan would require at least 12 submarines to establish a modern submarine force after assessing the nation’s operational environment and defense
A white king snake that frightened passengers and caused a stir on a Taipei MRT train on Friday evening has been claimed by its owner, who would be fined, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. A person on Threads posted that he thought he was lucky to find an empty row of seats on Friday after boarding a train on the Bannan (Blue) Line, only to spot a white snake with black stripes after sitting down. Startled, he jumped up, he wrote, describing the encounter as “terrifying.” “Taipei’s rat control plan: Release snakes on the metro,” one person wrote in reply, referring
The coast guard today said that it had disrupted "illegal" operations by a Chinese research ship in waters close to the nation and driven it away, part of what Taipei sees a provocative pattern of China's stepped up maritime activities. The coast guard said that it on Thursday last week detected the Chinese ship Tongji (同濟號), which was commissioned only last year, 29 nautical miles (54km) southeast of the southern tip of Taiwan, although just outside restricted waters. The ship was observed lowering ropes into the water, suspected to be the deployment of scientific instruments for "illegal" survey operations, and the coast
Taiwan’s two cases of hantavirus so far this year are on par with previous years’ case numbers, and the government is coordinating rat extermination work, so there should not be any outbreaks, Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞) said today in an interview with the Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper). An increase in rat sightings in Taipei and New Taipei City has raised concerns about the spread of hantavirus, as rats can carry the disease. In January, a man in his 70s who lived in Taipei’s Daan District (大安) tested positive posthumously for hantavirus, Taiwan’s
RSS