A pilot trainee for China Airlines (CAL, 華航) was severely injured during a flight training session in Orlando, Florida on Wednesday, the nation’s largest airline confirmed yesterday.
According to the report on NBC 2, the trainee, surnamed Chen (陳), was on a Cirrus SR20 single-engine plane with his flight instructor, 32-year-old Anthony Arzave.
The plane took off from the Orlando International Airport and headed to Fort Myers on Wednesday morning, but it crashed into a swampy area next to the Lake Wales Municipal Airport, the report said.
The report said that a parachute was deployed from the plane near the Lake Wales Municipal Airport, and both Chen and Arzave are being treated in hospital.
The single-engine plane belongs to the Aeorsim Flight Academy.
CAL said in a statement that the school was established in 1989 and was the first flight academy to join the Aviation Safety Action Program of the US Federal Aviation Administration, which has extensive experience training pilots.
The airline currently has about 50 trainees at the academy.
CAL said that Chen went to the academy last year and was undergoing flight training.
He was scheduled to finish his flight training by the end of this year.
Based on the company’s policy, Chen still needs to be trained for another year to fly various types of planes once he returns to Taiwan.
The airline added that it would send representatives to accompany some of Chen’s family members to the US, adding that it would ensure Chen receives comprehensive medical care.
The Civil Aeronautics Administration said the airline has notified it of the accident, adding that this was the first accident involving a pilot still in training.
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