Soldier fires missile without any supervisors present: Navy
ROC Central News Agency
2016/07/01 21:06:54
Kaohsiung, July 1 (CNA) The man behind a fatal missile blunder by Taiwan's military on Friday was a Navy sergeant who set off the missile without following procedures or without any superior officers present while the missile was in the wrong launch mode, the Navy said.
A locally developed Hsiung Feng III missile was accidentally launched from a Navy 500-ton Chinchiang-class corvette at Zuoying Military Harbor in Kaohsiung at 8:15 a.m. during a missile testing drill.
The anti-ship missile ended up hitting a fishing boat about 40 nautical miles away from the harbor in southern Taiwan, ripping through the vessel, killing the skipper and injuring three crewmen on board.
At a press conference at the Zuoying military base in Kaohsiung on Friday evening, Navy Commander Huang Shu-kuang (黃曙光) said the missile sergeant did not follow proper procedures in the drill, and performed the testing by himself without any supervisors present.
The soldier also selected the wrong mode for the missile drill simulation, setting it on combat and attack mode, which led to its inadvertent launch, Huang said.
Seven military officers, including the sergeant and Huang himself, will be disciplined, said Huang, who called the launch a very serious mistake.
Meanwhile, four people involved in the accident, including the sergeant who launched the missile and the captain of the military vessel, have been taken to the Kaohsiung District Prosecutors Office for questioning.
(By Chen Chao-fu and Elizabeth Hsu)
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