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'Screws coming loose' in Air Force: commander

ROC Central News Agency

2011/09/17 18:58:10

Taipei, Sept. 17 (CNA) The Air Force needs to undergo an overall review of its operations to address recent human lapses in maintenance and supervision, Air Force Commander Gen. Yen Ming admitted Saturday.

"Screws have come loose in some areas of our operations," Yen said just days after an F-5F twin-seater fighter and RF-5E reconnaissance plane crashed separately into mountains in Yilan County Tuesday during a nighttime training mission.

"We will conduct a thorough review and plug the gaps as soon as possible."

After paying tribute to the pilots killed in the accident, whose remains are being kept in a funeral hall at the Hualien Military General Hospital in eastern Taiwan, Yen told reporters that he felt deep regret and distress over their loss and the loss of the aircraft.

"The cause of the mishaps is still being investigated, with an Air Force task force and experts from the Aviation Safety Council piecing together recovered aircraft parts and equipment to reconstruct the sequence of events leading up to the crashes," Yen said.

He admitted that there was room for improvement in the Air Force's maintenance, manpower training and flight discipline.

But he stressed that even though the service's supervision and accountability might not be strict enough, the Air Force was not likely to have pilots fly aircraft with defects or substandard availability rates.

"Only aircraft that meets availability requirements will be allowed to carry out flight missions. This is the principal guideline that allows no compromise," Yen said.

Although the F-5 fleet has been in service for a long time, key components and parts have been renewed, Yen said, adding that both of the ill-fated planes had passed regular inspections and their availability rates were above minimum standards.

Judging from radar screens and the plane's flight paths, the two aircraft were slightly off course, Yen said.

He doubted, however, that mechanical failure was behind the latest mishaps because military aircraft tends to have both principal and back-up systems. If any parts developed problems, the back-up systems would have kicked in, he noted.

Aside from the F-5F accidents, the Air Force was also embarrassed recently by an incident in which an Air Force Mirage 2000-5 fighter jet was found to have a loose pipe cover on its engine tail upon returning to Hsinchu air base after a series of tactical flight drills.

Yen said it was later discovered that the flaw resulted from the negligence of a maintenance worker.

He said the individual had been kicked out of the maintenance division and would undergo further training and evaluation to see whether he could be reassigned.

Yen added that any other maintenance and supervisory staff found accountable for the incident would be disciplined in accordance with current regulations. (By Liu Chia-tai and Sofia Wu) enditem/ls