The human factor and the weather might be to blame for a military helicopter crash that last month killed eight military personnel, including chief of the general staff general Shen Yi-ming (沈一鳴), the air force said yesterday.
The UH-60M Black Hawk helicopter was on its way to a base in Yilan County’s Dongao (東澳) for a pre-Lunar New Year inspection on Jan. 2 when it went down in the mountains of New Taipei City’s Wulai District (烏來) with 13 people on board.
Citing a preliminary investigation, the air force said that it has ruled out mechanical failure as the main cause of the crash, after Sikorsky Aircraft Corp, the helicopter’s manufacturer, last week provided a comprehensive analysis of the two data recorders retrieved from the wreckage.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
It said that preliminary findings have shown that the cause of the crash was most likely related to human error and the weather.
The pilot tried to pull up to gain visibility after encountering a thick layer of cloud that suddenly formed in the area between Pinglin District (坪林) and Yilan, the air force said.
The helicopter’s cockpit voice recorder last picked up a loud thud followed by what sounded like rotors clipping a tree a few seconds after 8:07am, before the recording stopped, it said.
At the time of the crash, the helicopter was 3,551m above sea level and 87m from the ground, it added.
Twelve seconds before impact, the copilot twice told the pilot to watch out for altitude, according to the recorder, the air force said.
The helicopter was flown by lieutenant colonel Yeh Chien-yi (葉建儀) and copilot captain Liu Chen-fu (劉鎮富), who were both killed in the accident.
The other five killed were Political Warfare Bureau deputy director major general Yu Chin-wen (于親文), Intelligence Staff Office deputy assistant major general Hung Hung-chun (洪鴻鈞), major Huang Sheng-hang (黃聖航) of the Office of the Chief of the General Staff, chief master sergeant Han Cheng-hung (韓正宏) and crew chief master sergeant Hsu Hung-pin (許鴻彬).
A final report on the crash would be released later, the air force said.
‘NO SECURITY RISK’: The Railway Bureau reassured the public that the technicians’ activities were limited to technical guidance and did not involve sensitive systems The Railway Bureau yesterday said it had invited eight Chinese technicians to assist with an airport MRT construction project. The bureau issued the confirmation after an Internet user said Chinese nationals had entered the construction zone of Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport’s Terminal 3 project. They asked why “individuals from an enemy state” were allowed access to such a major national infrastructure project, which raised serious concerns over Taiwan’s industrial safety, sensitive systems and information security. The bureau’s Northern Region Engineering Branch Office said subcontractor Taiwan Handle Industrial Co (台灣手把工業) of the Taoyuan airport MRT’s “Contract No. CU05 Project A14 Station Civil, MEP &
The National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology yesterday showcased its locally developed variants of the Vision 60 robotic patrol dog, which it plans to deploy on the nation’s outlying territories in the South China Sea. The variants were produced under the Joint Lab project — created by the institute and domestic companies — and assembled with domestically produced motors, lenses and artificial intelligence (AI) systems alongside licensed tech from the US, Missile and Rocket Systems Research Division deputy director Jen Kuo-kang (任國光) told the media event at a military base in Taipei’s Dazhi (大直) area. Taiwan has built up its strengths
TIT-FOR-TAT: The US allegedly revoked the visa of a Chinese national working at Xinhua News Agency in the US in response to Beijing’s expulsion of Vivian Wang The Presidential Office yesterday condemned China for expelling a New York Times correspondent from Beijing following the newspaper’s interview with President William Lai (賴清德), saying the move highlighted Beijing’s suppression of press freedom and its threat to international news media. Taiwan has noted a series of recent incidents in which Beijing used similar tactics to “threaten and pressure international media outlets and journalists,” Presidential Office spokeswoman Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) said in a statement. “This concerns not only press freedom and freedom of expression, but also the safety of journalists, and Taiwan and relevant partners are paying close attention to the situation,” she
NOT IMMEDIATE: Taiwan has a chance to appeal the proposed 10 percent tariff before it starts, while other countries face a 12.5 percent tariff from the trade office Taiwan is among 60 economies determined by the US to have failed to impose or enforce a ban on the importation of goods produced with forced labor, according to a notice released on Tuesday by the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR), which proposed imposing an additional 10 percent or more tariff on them. The USTR in a statement said that following an investigation, it had determined under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 that the failure of the 60 economies to impose and effectively enforce a prohibition on the importation of goods produced with forced labor is
RSS