The former head of the air force’s weather center cannot work in the public sector for two years after being found guilty of gross negligence in actions deemed partly responsible for a military helicopter crash in 2020 that killed eight military officers, including chief of the general staff general Shen Yi-ming (沈一鳴).
Although proceedings of the Judicial Yuan’s Disciplinary Court are confidential, a source told the Central News Agency on condition of anonymity that the court, which is responsible for punishing civil servants, gave Jen I-wei (任亦偉) the two-year suspension.
Jen was head of the weather center at the Air Force Weather Wing’s No. 8 Base when the Black Hawk crashed into the mountains in New Taipei City on Jan. 2, 2020.
The court’s decision came after the Control Yuan in July 2020 impeached Jen and Chou Shih-kai (周士凱), an officer at the weather center, over negligence related to the crash.
Citing insufficient evidence, the Disciplinary Court decided not to punish Chou. The ruling can be appealed.
The Control Yuan’s impeachment said that the Black Hawk helicopter, carrying 13 military personnel to a base in Yilan County’s Dongao Township (東澳) for an inspection before the Lunar New Year holiday, crashed into the mountains of New Taipei City’s Wulai District (烏來) on Jan. 2, 2020.
Eight of the passengers, including Shen, died in the crash.
An investigative report released in February 2020 ruled out mechanical failure as the cause.
It found that the crash was most likely caused by a combination of human factors and a sudden change in weather conditions in the mountains.
The air force said that the pilot tried to pull up for visibility when he flew into cloud cover that suddenly formed before the chopper crashed into the mountains.
The air force punished five senior officers, including a commander and a deputy commander, over the crash.
The Control Yuan report showed that Jen, who was responsible for the pre-mission briefing that day, told the pilots that their mission was “good to go,” despite patches of clouds near the mountains along the flight route.
The probe found that Jen’s forecast was based on visible cloud imagery from earlier that day, but that he had failed to check near-infrared imaging, or true color imaging, along the flight path, which would have provided the pilots with a more accurate forecast.
During interviews, Jen told Control Yuan members that he did not check near-infrared images, which was deemed to be serious negligence.
Near-infrared images for that day showed low-layer clouds along the flight route that could lead to low visibility, the Control Yuan report said.
The Control Yuan said that Chou was supposed to update the pilots on the latest weather conditions along the route, but had failed to do so, which should be punished.
Yesterday, the air force said that it respected the court’s rulings, adding that corrective measures put in place since the crash should ensure that such a tragedy never happens again.
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
President William Lai (賴清德) has appointed former vice president Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) to attend the late Pope Francis’ funeral at the Vatican City on Saturday on his behalf, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today. The Holy See announced Francis’ funeral would take place on Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square. The ministry expressed condolences over Francis’ passing and said that Chen would represent Taiwan at the funeral and offer condolences in person. Taiwan and the Vatican have a long-standing and close diplomatic relationship, the ministry said. Both sides agreed to have Chen represent Taiwan at the funeral, given his Catholic identity and
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if the next president of that country decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said today. “We would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said during a legislative hearing. At the same time, Taiwan is paying close attention to the Central American region as a whole, in the wake of a visit there earlier this year by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Lin said. Rubio visited Panama, El Salvador, Costa Rica and Guatemala, during which he
RSS