Helicopter crash in Taiwan kills nine including Military Chief
In this image made from video, emergency teams work at the crash site of a military helicopter in the mountains of Yilan, north eastern Taiwan, Thursday, Jan. 2, 2020. The defense ministry has confirmed Taiwan's top military officer Gen. Shen Yi-ming and others were killed in a crash of an air force helicopter. (Yilan Fire Bureau via AP)
Taiwan’s top military official was among eight people killed on Thursday when their Black Hawk helicopter crashed in mountains in the north of the island.
Gen. Shen Yi-ming, 62, the Taiwan military’s chief of general staff, was en route to visit troops when the UH-60M helicopter disappeared from radar near New Taipei City while carrying 13 people, including the crew.
Shen was confirmed dead along with seven other people on board, Lt. Gen. Hsiung Hou-chi of Taiwan’s air force told a news conference Thursday afternoon. Five people survived.
The helicopter lost contact with base 13 minutes after taking off, at 8:07 a.m. local time, Hsiung said. He added the helicopter’s condition was “not ideal,” and the ministry had set up a task force to investigate the cause of the incident.