2020 ROCAF UH-60M crash

On 2 January 2020, a Black Hawk helicopter of the Republic of China Air Force (ROCAF) Air Rescue Group crashed in the Wulai District of New Taipei, Taiwan while executing a VIP transport mission.[2] General Shen Yi-ming, Taiwan's Chief of the General Staff (CGS), along with 7 other personnel on board, died in the crash.[3]

2020 ROCAF UH-60M crash
Joint funeral at Songshan Air Base, Taipei in memorial of the deceased in the 2020 New Taipei helicopter crash, with flag draped coffins on the front.
Accident
Date2 January 2020 (2020-01-02)
SummaryCrashed into terrain; under investigation
SiteWulai District, New Taipei, Taiwan
Aircraft
Aircraft typeSikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk
Operator Republic of China Air Force
Registration933[1]
Flight originSongshan Air Base, Taipei, Taiwan
DestinationDong'aoling Radar Station, Su'ao, Yilan County, Taiwan
Occupants13
Passengers10
Crew3
Fatalities8
Injuries5
Survivors5

Crash
An ROC Army Black Hawk helicopter, similar to the one involved, seen in 2012

The Black Hawk was taking off for a routine mission to visit service personnel in Dong'aoling Radar Station, Su'ao, Yilan county.[4] The helicopter lost contact with Songshan Air Base at 8:07 AM, thirteen minutes after taking off and crashed into a mountainside.[3][1]

General Shen Yi-ming, Chief of the General Staff, was on board the helicopter along with seven other officers and a senior enlisted adviser from the General Staff Headquarters, Ministry of National Defense (MND-GSH), a military correspondent, and three crew members. Shen and seven others including two Major Generals were killed, while five others were injured.[3]

Investigation

During a news conference on 2 January, General Hsiung Hou-chi, Commanding General of the Air Force, stated that the government has set up a task force to investigate the cause of the crash.[3] The flight recorders of the aircraft were recovered on 3 January and sent to the Taiwan Transportation Safety Board.[5][6] Proprietary hardware within the flight recorders were delivered to Sikorsky Aircraft.[7]

On 21 July 2020, the Control Yuan announced that Jen I-wei and Chou Shih-kai, both of whom were posted to the Air Force Weather Wing's No. 8 Base at the time of the crash, had been impeached.[8][9]

Aftermath
President Tsai Ing-wen, along with Generals and Admirals, participated in a moment of silence on the military conference after the helicopter crash.
National flag at Dong'aoling Radar Station, scheduled destination of the flight, lowered to half-staff on 4 January in condolence of the crash.

This crash occurred nine days before the Taiwanese general election. President Tsai Ing-wen's campaign office and Democratic Progressive Party announced that their presidential and legislative campaign activities would be stopped for three days,[10][11] and Han Kuo-yu's presidential campaign office said that Han would cancel campaign events for two days.[3]

Reactions

United States

General Mark A. Milley, Chairman of the United States Joint Chiefs of Staff, issued a statement to express condolences to members of the Taiwan military on the death of General Shen and the seven other deceased on behalf of the U.S. military.[12][13] American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), U.S. representative mission on the island, also issued a statement to extend condolences on the accident, and that it stands ready to assist their Taiwan counterparts in the aftermath.[14] On 3 January, the flag of the United States at AIT Taipei Main Office flew at half-staff.[15]

Japan

The Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association stated that "they were shocked and grief-stricken at the unfortunate deaths of the eight personnel, including Chief of Staff General Shen Yiming and would be mourned for their valor and service to their nation. At the same time also wishing the five remaining surviving personnel a speedy and healthy recovery." [16]

Other countries

Australian Office in Taipei, German Institute Taipei, British Office Taipei, Polish Office in Taipei, along with other foreign missions in Taiwan, as well as Haitian President Jovenel Moïse, Paraguayan Minister of Defense Bernardino Soto Estigarribia and San Christopher and Nevis Minister of Foreign Affairs Mark Brantley and other senior foreign government officials have also expressed their condolences on Facebook or Twitter.[16]

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References
  1. Ranter, Harro (2 January 2020). "Accident Sikorsky UH-60M Black Hawk 933, 02 Jan 2020". aviation-safety.net. Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
  2. Everington, Keoni (2 January 2020). "Breaking News: Taiwan's Chief of General Staff among 8 dead in Black Hawk crash". Taiwan News. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
  3. Gan, Nectar (2 January 2020). "Taiwan military chief among 8 killed in helicopter crash". CNN. cnn.com. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
  4. "Taiwan military chief among eight killed in helicopter crash landing". The Guardian. Reuters. 2 January 2020. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
  5. Yu, Matt; Wang, Yang-yu; Mazzetta, Matthew (3 January 2020). "Helicopter black box recovered, results expected in 1–3 days". Focus Taiwan. Central News Agency. Retrieved 4 January 2020.
  6. "Helicopter Crash: Investigators recover the 'black box' from helicopter crash site". Taipei Times. 4 January 2020. Retrieved 4 January 2020.
  7. "Weather unlikely to have caused crash". 5 January 2020. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  8. Wang, Cheng-chung; Yeh, Joseph (21 July 2020). "Two Air Force officers impeached over negligence in Black Hawk crash". Central News Agency. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
  9. You, Matt; Wang, Cheng-chung; Kao, Evelyn (22 July 2020). "Air Force respects impeachment of officers over chopper crash". Central News Agency. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
  10. "哀痛黑鷹重大傷亡！蔡英文、民進黨全黨今起暫停三天選舉活動" [Sorrow for the heavy casualties of the Blackhawk! Tsai Ing-wen, DPP's entire party suspended three-day elections today]. ettoday.net (in Chinese). 2 January 2020. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
  11. "黑鹰失事 民进党暂停三天竞选活动" [Blackhawk DPP suspended for three days] (in Chinese). Chinatimes.com. 2 January 2020. Retrieved 3 January 2020.
  12. Lin, Chia-nan (4 January 2020). "Helicopter Crash: US military sends condolences after deaths". Taipei Times. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  13. Lee, Yimou; Wu, Felice (2 January 2020). "Taiwan's military chief among eight dead in helicopter crash". Reuters. Archived from the original on 3 January 2020.
  14. "AIT Extends Condolences for the Tragic Helicopter Crash on January 2, 2020". American Institute in Taiwan. 2 January 2020. Archived from the original on 2 January 2020.
  15. 姿瑩 [Ziying], 侯 [Hou] (3 January 2020). 興盟 [Xingmeng], 林 [Lin] (ed.). "沈一鳴等8人搭黑鷹罹難 AIT內湖新館降半旗哀悼" [Shen Yi-ming and 8 others killed in Blackhawk] (in Chinese). Central News Agency. Archived from the original on 3 January 2020. Retrieved 3 January 2020.
  16. Gan, Nectar. "Taiwan military chief among 8 killed in helicopter crash". CNN. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
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