Taiwan Air Force Commander Hung Hau Co (Hsiung Hou-chi) confirmed the death of Armed Forces Commander Tham Nhat Minh (Shen Yi-ming) and 7 other military officials on the afternoon of January 2 after the UH-60M aircraft carrying 13 military members landed in O Lai district, Tan Bac district early in the morning of the same day.
In a quick press conference held at 11 noon, the Taiwan Defense Agency said the plane's location had been determined, two Black Hawk aircraft and 80 officers had been mobilized to the scene.
Taiwanese media later published photos of rescuers surveying the site of the accident.
Taiwanese media quoted the director of the Tan Bac City Fire Department as saying that the body of Mr. Tham Nhat Minh had been found with 5 survivors.
The plane left Tung Son airport in Taipei at 7:54 a.m. on January 1 during a New Year's Eve check-up in Dongao, northeastern Taiwan in Yilan County. At 8:07 a.m., the pilot reported the weather before the complete loss of communication. The plane crashed north of the destination in the mountainous area of O Lai district, Tan Bac district.
Taiwanese leader Thai Anh Van said she would postpone her activities for three days in an effort to handle the accident as the commander-in-chief of the armed forces.
She also posted on Facebook on the morning of January 2 that relevant agencies had been mobilized to make search and rescue efforts, ensuring everyone was safe.
I received the notification and quickly grasped the situation. People's safety is a top priority
Mayor Kaohsiung-du, who is running for office in the upcoming January 11 election, posted on Facebook saying that he and his team have been praying for all the victims. Once again, I would like to express my condolences to the victims and hope that we will all pray for them together, he said.
The crashed plane was one of the UH-60M Black Hawks Taiwan bought from the US in 2010. This is not the first incident involving Black Hawk in Taiwan, where six people were killed in a plane crash in February 2018 as pilots ignored warning signals of air disturbances. A UH-60M also made an emergency landing at the Chinese mainland in January 2016 after warning lights were turned on.
