ARMY OFFICIALS PUNISHED FOR HELICOPTER CRASH
ROC Central News Agency
2007-04-10 20:41:37
Taipei, April 10 (CNA) The Army Commanding General Chao Shih-chang and the commander of the Army's Airborne and Special Operations Command Wang Kuo-chiang were assigned demerits over the recent crash of an Army helicopter in southern Taiwan which resulted in the loss of eight elite officers.
Hsu Tai-sheng, director of the Joint Operation Training and Doctrine Office under the Ministry of National Defense (MND) , made the announcement Tuesday after the Army released its report regarding the causes of the crash of the Army UH-1H helicopter, which hit a transmission tower in the remote mountain region in Kaohsiung County in southern Taiwan last week.
The Minister of National Defense Lee Jye has since demanded that all aircraft of the same type be grounded for further security checks.
An Army official said the Army will also require in the future that both chiefs and deputy chiefs of a same unit not board the same aircraft.
The MND report attributed the plane's crash to a sudden change of the weather in the region that day and an inability on the part of the pilot and crew members to respond to the emergency.
Meanwhile, Army officials added that they will resume as soon as possible the operations of other UH-1H helicopters, but did not elaborate on when that might be.
(By Elisa Kao)
ENDITEM/jnc
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