On 2 January 2020, a Black Hawk helicopter of the

Republic of China Air Force The Republic of China Air Force ( Chinese, 中華民國空軍), or the ROCAF; known colloquially as the Taiwanese Air Force ( Chinese, 臺灣空軍) by Western or mainland Chinese media, or commonly referred as the National Military Air Force ...

(ROCAF) Air Rescue Group crashed in the

Wulai District Wulai District ( Atayal: Ulay; ) is a mountain indigenous district in southern New Taipei City in northern Taiwan. It sits near the border with Taipei and is famous for its hot springs. It is the largest district in New Taipei, as well as the mo ...

New Taipei New Taipei City is a Special municipality (Taiwan), special municipality located in regions of Taiwan, northern Taiwan. The city is home to an estimated population of 4,004,367 as of January 2023, making it the most populous city in Taiwan, a ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

, while executing a VIP transport mission. General

Shen Yi-ming Shen Yi-ming (; 30 March 1957 – 2 January 2020) was a Taiwanese military officer who served as a Republic of China Air Force general and the Chief of the General Staff, Deputy Minister of National Defense for Policy, and Commander of the RO ...

, Republic of China's Chief of the General Staff (CGS), along with seven other personnel on board, died in the accident.

Accident

The Black Hawk was taking off for a routine mission to visit service personnel in Dong'aoling Radar Station,

Su'ao Suao Township (), alternately romanized as Su-ao or Su'ao, is located in southern Yilan County, Taiwan, is an urban township that is famous for its seafood restaurants and cold springs. It is a terminus of National Highway No. 5, the Suao ...

, Yilan county. The helicopter lost contact with Songshan Air Base at 8:07 AM, thirteen minutes after taking off and crashed into a mountainside. General

Chief of the General Staff The Chief of the General Staff (CGS) is a post in many armed forces (militaries), the head of the military staff. List * Chief of the General Staff (Abkhazia) * Chief of General Staff (Afghanistan) * Chief of the General Staff (Albania) * C ...

, was on board the helicopter along with seven other officers and a senior enlisted adviser from the General Staff Headquarters,

Ministry of National Defense A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divide ...

(MND-GSH), a military correspondent, and three crew members. Shen and seven others including two Major Generals were killed, while five others were injured.

Victims

Eight military servicemembers were killed and 5 were wounded.

Investigation

During a news conference on 2 January, General Hsiung Hou-chi, Commanding General of the Air Force, stated that the government has set up a task force to investigate the cause of the accident. The

flight recorder A flight recorder is an electronic recording device placed in an aircraft for the purpose of facilitating the investigation of aviation accidents and incidents. The device may often be referred to colloquially as a "black box", an outdated nam ...

s of the aircraft were recovered on 3 January and sent to the

Taiwan Transportation Safety Board The Taiwan Transportation Safety Board (TTSB, ) is an independent government agency of the Republic of China responsible for major transportation accidents on aviation, railways, waterways, and highways in Taiwan. The council is headquartered in ...

. Proprietary hardware within the flight recorders were delivered to

Sikorsky Aircraft Sikorsky Aircraft is an American aircraft manufacturer based in Stratford, Connecticut. It was established by the Russian-American aviation pioneer Igor Sikorsky in 1923, and was among the first companies to manufacture helicopters for civilian ...

. On 21 July 2020, the

Control Yuan The Control Yuan is the supervisory and auditory branch of the government of the Republic of China, both during its time in mainland China and Taiwan. Designed as a hybrid of auditor and ombudsman by Taiwanese law, the Control Yuan holds th ...

announced that Jen I-wei and Chou Shih-kai, both of whom were posted to the Air Force Weather Wing's No. 8 Base at the time of the accident, had been impeached. It was reported in January 2022 that the

Judicial Yuan The Judicial Yuan () is the Judiciary, judicial branch of the Republic of China.''See'' Constitution arts. 77-82, ''available at'' ''See'' Additional Articles of the Constitution art. 5, ''available at'' It functions as the Constitutional Cour ...

's Disciplinary Court had barred Jen from working in the public sector for two years. No penalty was issued to Chou, due to insufficient evidence against him.

Aftermath

This accident occurred nine days before the Taiwanese general election. President

Tsai Ing-wen Tsai Ing-wen (; pinyin: ''Cài Yīngwén''; born 31 August 1956) is a Taiwanese politician and legal scholar who served as the seventh president of the Republic of China (Taiwan) from 2016 to 2024. A member of the Democratic Progressive Party ...

's campaign office and

Democratic Progressive Party The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is a centre to centre-left Taiwanese nationalist political party in Taiwan. As the dominant party in the Pan-Green Coalition, one of the two main political camps in Taiwan, the DPP is currently the ...

announced that their presidential and legislative campaign activities would be stopped for three days, and

Han Kuo-yu Han Kuo-yu (Chinese language, Chinese: 韓國瑜, born 17 June 1957), also known as Daniel Han, is a Taiwanese politician and retired Republic of China Army officer who is the current president of the Legislative Yuan. Han graduated from the ...

's presidential campaign office said that Han would cancel campaign events for two days.

Reactions

United States

General Mark A. Milley, Chairman of the United States Joint Chiefs of Staff, issued a statement to express condolences to members of the Taiwan military on the death of General Shen and the seven other deceased on behalf of the U.S. military.

American Institute in Taiwan The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT; ) is the ''de facto'' embassy of the United States of America in Taiwan. AIT is a wholly owned subsidiary of the federal government of the United States in Taiwan with Congressional oversight. The AIT was ...

(AIT), U.S. representative mission on the island, also issued a statement to extend condolences on the accident, and that it stands ready to assist their Taiwan counterparts in the aftermath. On 3 January, the

flag of the United States The national flag of the United States, often referred to as the American flag or the U.S. flag, consists of thirteen horizontal Bar (heraldry), stripes, Variation of the field, alternating red and white, with a blue rectangle in the Canton ( ...

at AIT Taipei Main Office flew at half-staff.

Japan

The Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association stated that "they were shocked and grief-stricken at the unfortunate deaths of the eight personnel, including Chief of Staff General Shen Yiming and would be mourned for their valor and service to their nation. At the same time also wishing the five remaining surviving personnel a speedy and healthy recovery."

Other countries

Australian Office in Taipei,

German Institute Taipei The German Institute Taipei (German language, German: Deutsches Institut Taipei); () is the List of diplomatic missions of Germany, overseas representative office of Germany in Taiwan, which promotes the non-diplomatic Germany–Taiwan relations, ...

British Office Taipei British Office Taipei (), formerly British Trade and Cultural Office (BTCO), is the List of diplomatic missions of the United Kingdom, representative office of the United Kingdom Government in Taiwan. It maintains and develops financial, educat ...

, Polish Office in Taipei, along with other foreign missions in Taiwan, as well as Haitian President

Jovenel Moïse Jovenel Moïse (; ; 26 June 1968 – 7 July 2021) was a Haitian politician and Businessperson, businessman who served as President of Haiti from 2017 until Assassination of Jovenel Moïse, his assassination in 2021. Moïse assumed the preside ...

, Paraguayan Minister of Defense Bernardino Soto Estigarribia and San Christopher and Nevis Minister of Foreign Affairs

Mark Brantley Mark Anthony Graham Brantley (born 11 January 1969) is the Premier of Nevis, Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly and former Minister of Foreign Affairs for St Kitts and Nevis. On May 10, 2022, Dr Timothy Harris, having lost the s ...

and other senior foreign government officials have also expressed their condolences on Facebook or Twitter.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:New Taipei helicopter crash, 2020 2020 disasters in Taiwan 2020 in Taiwan Accidents and incidents involving the Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk Accidents and incidents involving military helicopters Aviation accidents and incidents in 2020 Aviation accidents and incidents in Taiwan History of New Taipei January 2020 in Taiwan Military history of Taiwan