Wed, Jan 05, 2000 page3

• Air Force cites possible causes for jet crash

  SPECULATION Without the clues usually provided by a crash's wreckage and remains, the exact cause of last month's crash may never be known

  • By Brian Hsu / STAFF REPORTER
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  Air force officials claimed yesterday that they have narrowed the focus of their investigation into last month's crash of a Mirage fighter jet off the coast of Ilan county, saying the mishap was likely the result of several possible factors, both external and human.

  The officials said either a loss of consciousness during high g-force maneuvering, disorientation as a result of clouds, or problems with physical conditions -- all of which would have directly and immediately affected the pilot -- were likely causes of the fatal crash.

  Colonel Chin Ping-ho (金秉和), director of the Air Force General Headquarters' flight safety department, said the cause of the crash may never be know since the pilot's body, the pilot recorder and the plane itself have not been recovered.

  "There is no evidence to indicate that the pilot, Major Chiang Chin-liang (江金亮), might have overdone 9-g flight maneuvers. In our recreation of Chiang's flight path and pattern in a flight simulator, we found he did maneuvers involving a g-force of between 3 and 5. Chiang might have maneuvered the plane beyond 5-g moments before the crash," Chin said.

  Chin made the remarks while reporting the results of an initial investigation into the Dec. 14 crash.

  Investigators' findings showed that potentially fatal problems developed as Chiang brought the plane down from an altitude of 12,800 feet to 3,300 feet.

  "Chiang must have chosen a `split-S' maneuver so that he could achieve a sudden descent without changing the flight direction, as required by pre-flight instructions," Chin said.

  As the plane descended from 3,780 meters, Chin said, it encountered dense clouds at about 1,500 meters.

  "Judging from the available clues, we think it is also possible that Chiang might have developed spatial disorientation as he flew the plane into the dense low clouds," Chin said. "Otherwise the plane would not have plunged directly into the sea without the pilot being aware of it or trying to do something about it."

  The physical condition of the pilot, Chin said, also must be taken into consideration, he said, although there have been no reports of Chiang suffering from a physical illness or discomfort before the flight.

  Chin admitted, however, that the air force has yet to improve the problem of pilots' weight, as the Control Yuan suggested in its recent investigation report into the crash of a F-16 jet fighter last June off Green Island.

  The weight of the F-16 pilot, Hsu Chun-wei (許君威), was highlighted in the report although it was not directly cited as a possible cause of that crash.

  "We have started working in the direction pointed out by the Control Yuan. We used to think that as long as pilots passed human centrifuge tests, they could qualify for combat training," Chin said.

  "Our requirement for pilots in respect to their physical condition was their endurance against g-force. A stout figure was considered best for a combat pilot," he said. "Pilot Hsu was not fat. He was just strong, like an athlete ... and pilot Chiang did not have a problem with being overweight. He had a standard shape -- 175 centimeters tall and weighing 68 kilograms."

  The air force, meanwhile, resumed Mirage flight missions yesterday after undergoing extensive security inspections, the Air Force General Headquarters (AFGH) said.

  The AFGH grounded all of its French-made Mirage jets after one of those planes crashed off Taiwan's east coast during a training flight on Dec. 14.

  "Special inspections of the Mirage fighters have already been completed and most of them have been equipped with beacons which can send signals to facilitate recovery or salvage in case of crashes," said an air force official.
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