Anti-sub helicopter crashes off Hualien; one dead, two missing
The China Post news staff
Wednesday, October 22, 2008 0:39 am
A Navy helicopter carrying five people crashed off eastern Hualien County last night. One military
officer was confirmed dead, two injured and two were still unaccounted for in the second incident of its kind to hit the military in two days. Officials at the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said the incident took place at 9:40 p.m. at about five nautical miles from the eastern coast of Hualien.
The S70-C helicopter was conducting a routine combined reconnaissance and search operations along with six battleships against possible hostile submarines when the mishap occurred.
The naval ships immediately started rescue operations when the helicopter went down for unknown reasons after joining the operation from a military base in Taoyuan County in northern Taiwan.
Three were rescued and two were still missing as of late night.
Chu Chun-teh, aged 45 and a non-commissioned officer, showed no vital signs after being picked up from the sea.
Pilot Liu Shih-cheng, 33, suffered severe injuries while mechanic Tang Shih-shun, 35, sustained minor injuries.
The two still missing were copilot Ou Shih-wen, 30, and reconnaissance officer Huang Ji-sheng, 28.
A spokesman at the MND said the search and rescue mission would continue for the night.
The unit of Coast Guard Administration (CGA) on the eastern coast sent out its ships to the scene to join the search mission just a few minutes after the crash took place off Hualien County's Shidi fishing port.
Taiwan acquired the anti-submarine S70-C helicopters from the U.S. in 2000. This was the second incident with this model of helicopter.
All of the S70-C helicopters were grounded immediately for a thorough inspection, said the MND spokesman.
Meanwhile, more debris and wreckage from a locally-made
twin-seater IDF fighter jet that crashed on a training mission over the offshore island county of Penghu were recovered yesterday.
An Air Force official said that judging by the debris left behind, the indigenous defense fighter (IDF) might have stalled before crashing into the sea.
The possible explanation of the crash was given by Shen Yi-feng, chief of staff of the Air Force's 427th Tactical Fighter Wing, who has coordinated the search mission for the jet fighter.
A search team consisting of Air Force, Navy and Coast Guard units recovered 14 pieces of wreckage from the IDF jet.
Earlier in the day, the search team also found three pieces of human flesh while scouring the area. The Armed Forces General Hospital in Penghu was trying to establish whether the fragmented remains belonged to either of the two Air Force pilots.
The plane, operated by pilot Capt. Ku Chih-bin and co-pilot Capt. Chen Jian-ting, disappeared from radar screens Monday morning while on a bombing training mission over Penghu in the Taiwan Strait.
Link
http://www.chinapost.com.tw/taiwan/national/national-news/2008/10/22/179739/Anti-sub-helicopter.htm
The China Post news staff
Wednesday, October 22, 2008 0:39 am
A Navy helicopter carrying five people crashed off eastern Hualien County last night. One military
officer was confirmed dead, two injured and two were still unaccounted for in the second incident of its kind to hit the military in two days. Officials at the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said the incident took place at 9:40 p.m. at about five nautical miles from the eastern coast of Hualien.
The S70-C helicopter was conducting a routine combined reconnaissance and search operations along with six battleships against possible hostile submarines when the mishap occurred.
The naval ships immediately started rescue operations when the helicopter went down for unknown reasons after joining the operation from a military base in Taoyuan County in northern Taiwan.
Three were rescued and two were still missing as of late night.
Chu Chun-teh, aged 45 and a non-commissioned officer, showed no vital signs after being picked up from the sea.
Pilot Liu Shih-cheng, 33, suffered severe injuries while mechanic Tang Shih-shun, 35, sustained minor injuries.
The two still missing were copilot Ou Shih-wen, 30, and reconnaissance officer Huang Ji-sheng, 28.
A spokesman at the MND said the search and rescue mission would continue for the night.
The unit of Coast Guard Administration (CGA) on the eastern coast sent out its ships to the scene to join the search mission just a few minutes after the crash took place off Hualien County's Shidi fishing port.
Taiwan acquired the anti-submarine S70-C helicopters from the U.S. in 2000. This was the second incident with this model of helicopter.
All of the S70-C helicopters were grounded immediately for a thorough inspection, said the MND spokesman.
Meanwhile, more debris and wreckage from a locally-made
twin-seater IDF fighter jet that crashed on a training mission over the offshore island county of Penghu were recovered yesterday.
An Air Force official said that judging by the debris left behind, the indigenous defense fighter (IDF) might have stalled before crashing into the sea.
The possible explanation of the crash was given by Shen Yi-feng, chief of staff of the Air Force's 427th Tactical Fighter Wing, who has coordinated the search mission for the jet fighter.
A search team consisting of Air Force, Navy and Coast Guard units recovered 14 pieces of wreckage from the IDF jet.
Earlier in the day, the search team also found three pieces of human flesh while scouring the area. The Armed Forces General Hospital in Penghu was trying to establish whether the fragmented remains belonged to either of the two Air Force pilots.
The plane, operated by pilot Capt. Ku Chih-bin and co-pilot Capt. Chen Jian-ting, disappeared from radar screens Monday morning while on a bombing training mission over Penghu in the Taiwan Strait.
Link
http://www.chinapost.com.tw/taiwan/national/national-news/2008/10/22/179739/Anti-sub-helicopter.htm
