Two pilots dead after training aircraft crashes in southern Taiwan

Two pilots dead after training aircraft crashes in southern Taiwan

2010-12-16 21:34:43 GMT+7 (ICT)

KAOHSIUNG, TAIPEI (BNO NEWS) -- Two pilots were killed on Wednesday when a training aircraft crashed in Kaohsiung, southern Taiwan, Focus Taiwan news and the Xinhua news agency reported on Thursday.

The Air Force Academy T-34 Mentor trainer plane crashed during a routine training mission after it had taken off from an academy in Taiwan's Gangshan Township at around 1.08 p.m. local time. The plane disappeared from radar about an hour later, authorities said.

The single-engine T-34 two-seat training aircraft was being piloted by 49-year-old flight instructor Niu Pengyu and 25-year-old Air Force Academy cadet Liu Che-hung. Both their bodies were recovered at the crash site in Liouguei Township of Kaohsiung.

It was not immediately known what caused the aircraft to crash, which witnesses said happened in a mountainous area. The aircraft exploded on impact, emitting thick clouds of smoke.

Cadet Liu was in his third training session and had only recorded two previous flight hours when the accident happened. Trainer Niu was an Air Force veteran with approximately 4,800 flight hours of experience.

Wednesday's crash was the eighth T-34 Mentor to be involved in an accident since the U.S.-made trainer aircraft was introduced in Taiwan in 1985. It was the second crash this year alone.

In January, a T-34 Mentor trainer went down during a training flight in southern Taiwan. The accident also resulted in the deaths of two pilots aboard. Taiwanese authorities initially suspended flights of all T-34 Mentor aircraft but they resumed only two months later.

Ruling Kuomintang Legislator Lin Yu-fang said the military should ground all T-34 Mentor aircraft until further notice to perform thorough maintenance checks, despite the fact that the aircraft is being used worldwide.

A special team was formed to investigate the accident.

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