5 killed, 1 wounded, 2 missing in army helicopter crash

Kaohsiung, Apr 3 (UNI) The crash of an army UH-1H helicopter has killed five of eight military officers on board, while injuring another one, in the Chungliao mountain region in Chishan Township of the southern county of Kaohsiung, military sources said today.

Two officers aboard are are still missing, the Central News Agency of Taiwan reports.

The dead were all senior officers of an army airborn cavelry brigade, including Brigade Chief Col Chen Min-tung, Lt Col Ma Wen-pin, Lt Col Lai Yu-hung, Capt Wu Ming-chung, who was the copilot, and Chief Technician Luo Ming-hua, military spokesman Wu Chih-fang said.

Wu said that the military helicopter took off at 1552 hrs from the Kueijen base in Tainan County to perform an air surveillance drill. It lost contact eight minutes later and the military received a report of its crash at 1630 hrs.

The helicopter crashed onto Chungliao Second Road in Chishan after hitting a transmission tower owned by the police-operated Public Radio System. No civilians were injured during the incident.

Wu said the army has grounded all of its aircraft, and launched an investigation into the crash.

A preliminary report suggests that the crash was probably caused by bad mountain weather leading to low visibility.

UNI