Two soldiers died yesterday after their army helicopter crashed into a building in Lungtan Township (龍潭), Taoyuan County, Ministry of National Defense officials said.
The AH-1W Super Cobra helicopter hit a four-story building before falling to the street below at 10:11am.
Pilot Lieutenant Colonel Yu Chien-wen (喻建文), 41, and copilot Captain Lee Huang-yu (李黃宇), 27, were both trapped in the cabin of the helicopter.
PHOTO: AFP
They were removed from the wreckage and taken to Taoyuan Armed Forces General Hospital after rescuers used hydraulic equipment to pry open the cabin.
An army press statement said the helicopter took off at 9:38am from its base in Lungtan to perform a routine training mission around the Lungtan and Pingchen Township (平鎮) area.
At 10:10am, the helicopter asked the control tower for permission to land, but one minute later it crashed into the residential building.
The statement said the helicopter did not issue an emergency call before it crashed.
The army has launched an investigation into the incident.
The helicopter had been in service for 14 years.
Chief of the General Staff General Huo Shou-yeh (霍守業) told reporters at the hospital yesterday afternoon that Yu was an outstanding and experienced pilot, adding that according to witnesses, the crew had tried to pull up so that the chopper would not hit the building, and they had done their best.
Huo said Yu had 1,792 hours of flight experience, while Lee had completed 450 hours.
“We regret that we lost two outstanding pilots,” Huo added.
The AH-1W helicopter team was established in 1993.
Yesterday’s incident marked the third accident involving members of the helicopter team.
The armed forces has 61 AH-1W helicopters, which were procured from the US.
The army also said that it would compensate the owner of the building for losses resulting from the damage.
MILITARY BOOST: The procurement was planned after Washington recommended that Taiwan increase its stock of air defense missiles, a defense official said yesterday Taiwan is planning to order an additional four PAC-3 MSE systems and up to 500 missiles in response to an increasing number of missile sites on China’s east coast, a defense official said yesterday. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that the proposed order would be placed using the defense procurement special budget, adding that about NT$1 trillion (US$32,88 billion) has been allocated for the budget. The proposed acquisition would include launchers, missiles, and a lower tier air and missile defense radar system, they said The procurement was planned after the US military recommended that Taiwan increase
POLITICAL AGENDA: Beijing’s cross-strait Mid-Autumn Festival events are part of a ‘cultural united front’ aimed at promoting unification with Taiwan, academics said Local authorities in China have been inviting Taiwanese to participate in cross-strait Mid-Autumn Festival celebrations centered around ideals of “family and nation,” a move Taiwanese academics said politicizes the holiday to promote the idea of “one family” across the Taiwan Strait. Sources said that China’s Fujian Provincial Government is organizing about 20 cross-strait-themed events in cities including Quanzhou, Nanping, Sanming and Zhangzhou. In Zhangzhou, a festival scheduled for Wednesday is to showcase Minnan-language songs and budaixi (布袋戲) glove puppetry to highlight cultural similarities between Taiwan and the region. Elsewhere, Jiangsu Province is hosting more than 10 similar celebrations in Taizhou, Changzhou, Suzhou,
COGNITIVE WARFARE: Chinese fishing boats transmitting fake identification signals are meant to test Taiwan’s responses to different kinds of perceived incursions, a report said Chinese vessels are transmitting fake signals in Taiwan’s waters as a form of cognitive warfare, testing Taipei’s responses to various types of incursions, a report by the Institute for the Study of War said on Friday. Several Chinese fishing vessels transmitted fake automatic identification system (AIS) signals in Taiwan’s waters last month, with one mimicking a Russian warship and another impersonating a Chinese law enforcement vessel, the report said. Citing data from Starboard Maritime Intelligence, the report said that throughout August and last month, the Chinese fishing boat Minshiyu 06718 (閩獅漁06718) sailed through the Taiwan Strait while intermittently transmitting its own AIS
CHINESE INFILTRATION: Medical logistics is a lifeline during wartime and the reported CCP links of a major logistics company present a national security threat, an expert said The government would bolster its security check system to prevent China from infiltrating the nation’s medical cold chain, a national security official said yesterday. The official, who wished to stay anonymous, made the remarks after the Chinese-language magazine Mirror Media (鏡周刊) reported that Pharma Logistics (嘉里醫藥物流) is in charge of the medical logistics of about half of the nation’s major hospitals, including National Taiwan University Hospital and Taipei Veterans General Hospital. The company’s parent, Kerry TJ Logistics Co (嘉里大榮物流), is associated with the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA), the
RSS