An accident at a model aircraft world championship at Lungpan Park in Kenting (墾丁) yesterday claimed the life of a woman carrying her son.
The accident at the F3F Radio Control Soaring (Slope) World Cup in Pingtung County was the first death for the sport in Taiwan since it was introduced here. The child was not severely injured, having been nicked in the neck.
Veteran participants of the sport said that the radio-controlled glider could have been blown off-course by a momentary strong gust of wind, adding that such an accident is rarely seen.
The glider belonged to the US team participating in the event.
The 2kg glider collided with the woman 500m away from the competition grounds when she was walking with her child along a wooded path.
“She did not go to see the competition. She just wanted to take a stroll in the park,” a member of the woman’s family said.
Lungpan Park is considered the best ground for the sport, although there are other grounds in Keelung City, Taitung County, Miaoli County’s Houlong Township (後龍), Taichung’s Tiezhenshan (鐵砧山) and Penghu County.
World record holder Lin Kuo-ping (林國平) made his record flight of 24.58 seconds at Lungpan Park in 2013.
Wind at the park tends to bring high-density air sloping downward, and the park’s geography generates a great upward draft, making it an excellent ground for the sport.
Beijing could eventually see a full amphibious invasion of Taiwan as the only "prudent" way to bring about unification, the US Department of Defense said in a newly released annual report to Congress. The Pentagon's "Annual Report to Congress: Military and Security Developments Involving the People's Republic of China 2025," was in many ways similar to last year’s report but reorganized the analysis of the options China has to take over Taiwan. Generally, according to the report, Chinese leaders view the People's Liberation Army's (PLA) capabilities for a Taiwan campaign as improving, but they remain uncertain about its readiness to successfully seize
HORROR STORIES: One victim recounted not realizing they had been stabbed and seeing people bleeding, while another recalled breaking down in tears after fleeing A man on Friday died after he tried to fight the knife-wielding suspect who went on a stabbing spree near two of Taipei’s busiest metro stations, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said. The 57-year-old man, identified by his family name, Yu (余), encountered the suspect at Exit M7 of Taipei Main Station and immediately tried to stop him, but was fatally wounded and later died, Chiang said, calling the incident “heartbreaking.” Yu’s family would receive at least NT$5 million (US$158,584) in compensation through the Taipei Rapid Transit Corp’s (TRTC) insurance coverage, he said after convening an emergency security response meeting yesterday morning. National
Taiwan has overtaken South Korea this year in per capita income for the first time in 23 years, IMF data showed. Per capita income is a nation’s GDP divided by the total population, used to compare average wealth levels across countries. Taiwan also beat Japan this year on per capita income, after surpassing it for the first time last year, US magazine Newsweek reported yesterday. Across Asia, Taiwan ranked fourth for per capita income at US$37,827 this year due to sustained economic growth, the report said. In the top three spots were Singapore, Macau and Hong Kong, it said. South
Taiwan is getting a day off on Christmas for the first time in 25 years. The change comes after opposition parties passed a law earlier this year to add or restore five public holidays, including Constitution Day, which falls on today, Dec. 25. The day marks the 1947 adoption of the constitution of the Republic of China, as the government in Taipei is formally known. Back then the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) governed China from Nanjing. When the KMT, now an opposition party in Taiwan, passed the legislation on holidays, it said that they would help “commemorate the history of national development.” That
RSS