Seven jets from the Republic of China (ROC) Air Force’s Thunder Tiger Aerobatics Team yesterday flew over the funeral of Chuang Pei-yuan (莊倍源) to pay tribute to the late AT-3 jet trainer pilot, who died in a crash last month following a mid-air collision with another aircraft.
Chuang had maneuvered his aircraft clear of residential communities to avoid endangering lives on the ground, at the cost of his own life, officials said.
The funeral was held at the Air Force Academy in Greater Kaohsiung, and was attended by President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), who presented a presidential citation to Chuang’s father in recognition of the fallen pilot’s contribution.
Minister of National Defense Yen Ming (嚴明) was also at the funeral and granted a military medal and a certificate to Chuang’s family. Yen also posthumously promoted the 37-year-old to colonel from lieutenant colonel.
The funeral concluded with a “missing man” formation by AT-3 trainers over the sky in memory of Chuang. During the maneuver, one of the jets pulled out of the formation, symbolizing Chuang’s death, the air force said.
Many of Chuang’s colleagues and teachers also attended the funeral and expressed sadness over his death.
Colleague Wang Hsiang-lin (王祥麟) said he had often discussed flying matters with Chuang. Chuang was convinced that when a pilot faces a critical situation, he must steer the aircraft clear of crowded areas, Wang said, adding that Chuang lived up to his conviction and served as a role model for others.
Chuang’s ashes would be buried in a military graveyard in Changhua County, the air force said.
The National Geographic Channel also made a special video recently to pay tribute to Chuang, who was one of the interviewees featured in the channel’s upcoming program on the aerobatics team.
Chuang’s aircraft hit another AT-3 trainer flown by Lieutenant Colonel Yang Chih-ping (楊志平) during a routine aerobatic training mission on Oct. 21.
Following the collision, the control tower urged Chuang to eject from the plane, but he chose instead to steer his aircraft clear of residential communities to avoid endangering the lives of others, the air force said.
Yang’s plane was not badly damaged and landed safely at the Air Force Academy.
An air force task force has been looking into the cause of the crash, while Greater Kaohsiung prosecutors have also been conducting an investigation.
Police have issued warnings against traveling to Cambodia or Thailand when others have paid for the travel fare in light of increasing cases of teenagers, middle-aged and elderly people being tricked into traveling to these countries and then being held for ransom. Recounting their ordeal, one victim on Monday said she was asked by a friend to visit Thailand and help set up a bank account there, for which they would be paid NT$70,000 to NT$100,000 (US$2,136 to US$3,051). The victim said she had not found it strange that her friend was not coming along on the trip, adding that when she
TRAGEDY: An expert said that the incident was uncommon as the chance of a ground crew member being sucked into an IDF engine was ‘minuscule’ A master sergeant yesterday morning died after she was sucked into an engine during a routine inspection of a fighter jet at an air base in Taichung, the Air Force Command Headquarters said. The officer, surnamed Hu (胡), was conducting final landing checks at Ching Chuan Kang (清泉崗) Air Base when she was pulled into the jet’s engine for unknown reasons, the air force said in a news release. She was transported to a hospital for emergency treatment, but could not be revived, it said. The air force expressed its deepest sympathies over the incident, and vowed to work with authorities as they
A tourist who was struck and injured by a train in a scenic area of New Taipei City’s Pingsi District (平溪) on Monday might be fined for trespassing on the tracks, the Railway Police Bureau said yesterday. The New Taipei City Fire Department said it received a call at 4:37pm on Monday about an incident in Shifen (十分), a tourist destination on the Pingsi Railway Line. After arriving on the scene, paramedics treated a woman in her 30s for a 3cm to 5cm laceration on her head, the department said. She was taken to a hospital in Keelung, it said. Surveillance footage from a
INFRASTRUCTURE: Work on the second segment, from Kaohsiung to Pingtung, is expected to begin in 2028 and be completed by 2039, the railway bureau said Planned high-speed rail (HSR) extensions would blanket Taiwan proper in four 90-minute commute blocs to facilitate regional economic and livelihood integration, Railway Bureau Deputy Director-General Yang Cheng-chun (楊正君) said in an interview published yesterday. A project to extend the high-speed rail from Zuoying Station in Kaohsiung to Pingtung County’s Lioukuaicuo Township (六塊厝) is the first part of the bureau’s greater plan to expand rail coverage, he told the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times). The bureau’s long-term plan is to build a loop to circle Taiwan proper that would consist of four sections running from Taipei to Hualien, Hualien to
RSS