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TAIWAN-MILITARY-HELICOPTER-ACCIDENT
Fog, human factors behind deadly Black Hawk crash in Taiwan
TAIPEI, Feb 15, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – Thick fog and human factors were to blame
for a military helicopter crash in January that killed Taiwan’s chief of
general staff and seven senior officers, according to investigators who ruled
out mechanical failure.
“Weather, terrain and human factors were behind the crash,” Air Force
Major General Huang Chih-wei told reporters at a press conference Saturday.
“The pilot had only six or seven seconds to pull up after thick fog
rapidly descended,” Huang added.
In the preliminary investigation report, the co-pilot had warned about the
helicopter’s altitude twice before it crashed onto a mountain slope.
The 62-year-old military chief General Shen Yi-Ming and his entourage were
on a routine mission to visit soldiers in northeast Yilan county for the
upcoming Lunar New Year when the incident happened.
The UH-60M Black Hawk helicopter was carrying 13 people in total, with
five surviving the crash. It disappeared from radar less than 15 minutes
after taking off, and did not send a distress call.
There have been a number of incidents involving Taiwan’s 60 Black Hawk
helicopters — purchased from the United States — in recent years.
In 2018 a chopper belonging to a government rescue agency crashed during a
medical mission off outlying Orchid Island, killing six people on board in an
incident attributed to human error.
There were also two crash landings in 2016 and 2018 with no casualties.
“We will be looking into future adjustments in our pilot’s simulator
training after this accident,” Huang said.
BSS/AFP/MSY/1600 hrs