Although Taiwan's Indigenous Defense Fighter (IDF) has an emergency function that minimizes the chance of a plane crash due to human error, pilots have only now found out about it.
The previous two accidents involving IDFs this year were caused by human error, defense sources said yesterday.
The state-run Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation (AIDC), the developer of the plane, reminded the air force of the manually controlled function after realizing what had caused the two IDF crashes.
The function, which is to be activated only in an emergency, could help the plane recover from near loss of control caused by improper piloting, AIDC officials said.
According to defense sources the crashes had a lot to do with improper piloting on the part of the flight instructor.
Both of the planes were twin-seat trainers, which carried a trainee in the front seat and a flight instructor in the back.
Air force investigations indica-ted that the first IDF crash, which occurred in April, was caused by the flight instructor maneuvering the plane in such a way that a negative G-force was created, a senior air force official said.
The instructor caused the negative G-force as punishment when the trainee failed to carry out instructions. The trainee lost control of the plane after repeated interruptions from the back-seat pilot. The plane crashed, but both pilots survived by ejecting.
The second crash, in Septem-ber, had a similar cause, said Erich Shih (
"The crash was also caused by the negative G-force which the flight instructor created intentionally to punish the trainee. It is incredible that the same mistake could be repeated again and again," Shih said. He quoted what he called reliable sources.
The crashes dealt a heavy blow to the air force, which had been taking pride in the IDF's relatively accident-free history, especially compared with other fighter planes such as the US-made F-16 and French Mirage 2000-5.
The latest crashes have brought the IDF fleet in line with the F-16s and Mirage 2000-5s as far as the air force's accident rate is concerned.
A total of three IDFs have crashed since the air force started using them, while four of the F-16s and three Mirage 2005-5s have crashed.
In an attempt to prevent similar accidents in future, the air force has asked the AIDC to help teach pilots how to use the fighter's emergency function.
The air force general headquarters yesterday declined to comment on the issue, saying it is not proper to discuss this in public.
Taiwanese can file complaints with the Tourism Administration to report travel agencies if their activities caused termination of a person’s citizenship, Mainland Affairs Council Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday, after a podcaster highlighted a case in which a person’s citizenship was canceled for receiving a single-use Chinese passport to enter Russia. The council is aware of incidents in which people who signed up through Chinese travel agencies for tours of Russia were told they could obtain Russian visas and fast-track border clearance, Chiu told reporters on the sidelines of an event in Taipei. However, the travel agencies actually applied
New measures aimed at making Taiwan more attractive to foreign professionals came into effect this month, the National Development Council said yesterday. Among the changes, international students at Taiwanese universities would be able to work in Taiwan without a work permit in the two years after they graduate, explainer materials provided by the council said. In addition, foreign nationals who graduated from one of the world’s top 200 universities within the past five years can also apply for a two-year open work permit. Previously, those graduates would have needed to apply for a work permit using point-based criteria or have a Taiwanese company
The Shilin District Prosecutors’ Office yesterday indicted two Taiwanese and issued a wanted notice for Pete Liu (劉作虎), founder of Shenzhen-based smartphone manufacturer OnePlus Technology Co (萬普拉斯科技), for allegedly contravening the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例) by poaching 70 engineers in Taiwan. Liu allegedly traveled to Taiwan at the end of 2014 and met with a Taiwanese man surnamed Lin (林) to discuss establishing a mobile software research and development (R&D) team in Taiwan, prosecutors said. Without approval from the government, Lin, following Liu’s instructions, recruited more than 70 software
Chinese spouse and influencer Guan Guan’s (關關) residency permit has been revoked for repeatedly posting pro-China videos that threaten national security, the National Immigration Agency confirmed today. Guan Guan has said many controversial statements in her videos posted to Douyin (抖音), including “the red flag will soon be painted all over Taiwan” and “Taiwan is an inseparable part of China,” and expressing hope for expedited reunification. The agency last year received multiple reports alleging that Guan Guan had advocated for armed reunification. After verifying the reports, the agency last month issued a notice requiring her to appear and explain her actions. Guan
RSS