A relatively inexperienced pilot, an aging aircraft, and unstable atmospheric conditions are possible factors that may have led to Tuesday’s deadly AT-3 trainer jet crash that killed the pilot, retired Air Force Lieutenant General Chang Yen-ting (???) told CNA Tuesday.
Chang, a former Air Force Academy superintendent, said that Second Lieutenant Hsu Ta-Chun (???), who was killed during the crash in Kaohsiung City while on a solo training flight, had only logged 24 hours in flying the AT-3 plane, meaning he did not have enough experience in handling emergencies.
Before the crash, Hsu had been flying at an altitude of around 500 meters above sea level, which is about the height of the Taipei 101 building, according to Chang, who headed the Air Force Academy from July 2014 to June 2015.
This meant Hsu only had a very brief time to respond if he experienced an emergency, compared with flying at a higher altitude, he said.
Also, the aging AT-3s have been in service in Taiwan for nearly four decades, making the aircraft more likely to experience mechanic malfunction due to the lack of new spare parts, he said.
The overall weather conditions during the ongoing rainy season is also unfavorable to pilots, with the unstable atmosphere due to moisture posing a higher risk for aircraft, even when flying with high visibility, Chang added.
Chang called on the Air Force to come up with a strategy to recruit more cadets due to the nation’s dwindling birthrate and the relative higher risk of serving as an Air Force pilot.
He also urged the Air Force to consider raising the salary of flight instructors so that more of them would continue to serve in the military instead of going on to civilian aviation companies, which offer higher pay.
In the wake of the crash, Taiwan’s Air Force Academy announced the suspension of all flight training for its cadets and grounded all of its AT-3 trainer jets.
According to Air Force Chief of Staff Huang Chih-wei (???), no signs of mechanical failure have been detected in the preliminary stage of the investigation, and the weather conditions during the training session were good with high visibility.
A graduate of the Air Force Academy Class of 2021, the 23-year-old Hsu was flying his second solo training mission.
The aging AT-3s, built domestically by Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation (AIDC) in the 1980s, have been involved in 15 accidents, resulting in the death of 10 pilots.
Taiwan’s military has ordered 66 new AIDC Advanced Jet Trainers (AJT) and is in the process of replacing the AT-3 trainer aircraft and F-5E/F lead-in fighter trainers with these new aircraft.
The latest incident is the ninth military aircraft crash in Taiwan since 2017, involving two Mirage 2000s, three F-5Es, three F-16s and one AT-3, leading to the deaths of eight pilots, all of whom were in their 20s or early 30s.
There have also been at least two deadly helicopter crashes since 2020, including one on Jan. 2 that year in which the head of Taiwan’s military and seven others died.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel