Taiwan helicopter crash – Eight killed including top military officer Shen Yi-ming during New Year flight
EIGHT people have been killed including a top military officer after a helicopter crashed in Taiwanese mountains. Air Force General Shen Yi-ming was among those killed when the Blackhawk tried to make an emergency landing during the New Year’s Day flight. It is understood at least five people survived of the 13 who were on […]
EIGHT people have been killed including a top military officer after a helicopter crashed in Taiwanese mountains.
Air Force General Shen Yi-ming was among those killed when the Blackhawk tried to make an emergency landing during the New Year’s Day flight.
It is understood at least five people survived of the 13 who were on board.
Taiwain’s defence ministry this morning confirmed Air Force General Shen was among the eight killed.
As chief of the general staff, Shen is responsible for overseeing the island’s defence against China, which threatens to use military force to annex what it considers it own territory.
The helicopter was flying from Taipei to the northeastern city of Ilan for a new year’s activity when it crashed.
Aviation authorities lost contact with the helicopter at 8.22am.
According to Taiwans Ministry of National Defense, 13 people were on the UH-60M Blackhawk helicopter, which took off shortly after 7:50 a.m. from Taipei’s Songshan air force base on its way to a base in Yilan county on the east coast.
Just over 10 minutes later, it dropped from the radar screen and went down in the mountainous, heavily forested Wulai area southeast of the capital.
Shen, 63, had taken over as chief of the general staff in July after serving as commander of Taiwan’s air force, which is undergoing a substantial upgrade with the arrival of the most advanced version of the U.S. F-16V fighter.
Alexander Huang, a strategic studies professor at Tamkang University in Taiwan who had known Shen for a decade, said he had stood out as a pilot and an officer.
MOST READ IN NEWS
It will likely be months before the cause of the crash is known, but the pilots, both of whom were killed, appeared to have been highly experienced.
Taiwan’s military has operated Blackhawks for decades and in 2010, completed a sale for another 60 UH-Ms from the U.S. for $3.1 billion.
