A locally developed uncrewed aerial vehicle yesterday morning crashed into the ocean off southeastern Taiwan during a military mission.
There were no reports of injuries.
The Rui Yuan (銳鳶, Sharp Hawk) long-range surveillance drone, used by the Naval Maritime Tactical Reconnaissance Group, took off from a training field in Taitung County’s Taimali Township (太麻里) at 7:27am to perform a scouting mission, the Naval Fleet Command said in a statement.
Navy operators quickly noticed problems with the trajectory and movement of the drone, and were forced to land it in waters off Taimali eight minutes after takeoff to avoid potential casualties on land, it said.
The navy is investigating the cause of the malfunction with the Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology, which developed the drone, the Naval Fleet Command said.
The drone was first spotted by local fishers about 12 nautical miles (22km) offshore, and they reported it to the coast guard, military sources said.
First commissioned in 2012, the Rui Yuans are used mostly in maritime surveillance and disaster relief missions.
Weighing 350kg with an 8.6m wingspan, they have a maximum speed of 180kph, a maximum flying altitude of 4,000m, and can stay in the air for up to 12 hours.
At least nine Rui Yuans have crashed since 2012, according to information compiled by the Central News Agency.
Hong Kong singer Andy Lau’s (劉德華) concert in Taipei tonight has been cancelled due to Typhoon Kong-rei and is to be held at noon on Saturday instead, the concert organizer SuperDome said in a statement this afternoon. Tonight’s concert at Taipei Arena was to be the first of four consecutive nightly performances by Lau in Taipei, but it was called off at the request of Taipei Metro, the operator of the venue, due to the weather, said the organizer. Taipei Metro said the concert was cancelled out of consideration for the audience’s safety. The decision disappointed a number of Lau’s fans who had
Commuters in Taipei picked their way through debris and navigated disrupted transit schedules this morning on their way to work and school, as the city was still working to clear the streets in the aftermath of Typhoon Kong-rey. By 11pm yesterday, there were estimated 2,000 trees down in the city, as well as 390 reports of infrastructure damage, 318 reports of building damage and 307 reports of fallen signs, the Taipei Public Works Department said. Workers were mobilized late last night to clear the debris as soon as possible, the department said. However, as of this morning, many people were leaving messages
A Canadian dental assistant was recently indicted by prosecutors after she was caught in August trying to smuggle 32kg of marijuana into Taiwan, the Aviation Police Bureau said on Wednesday. The 30-year-old was arrested on Aug. 4 after arriving on a flight to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Chang Tsung-lung (張驄瀧), a squad chief in the Aviation Police Bureau’s Criminal Investigation Division, told reporters. Customs officials noticed irregularities when the woman’s two suitcases passed through X-ray baggage scanners, Chang said. Upon searching them, officers discovered 32.61kg of marijuana, which local media outlets estimated to have a market value of more than NT$50 million (US$1.56
FATALITIES: The storm claimed at least two lives — a female passenger in a truck that was struck by a falling tree and a man who was hit by a utility pole Workers cleared fallen trees and shop owners swept up debris yesterday after one of the biggest typhoons to hit the nation in decades claimed at least two lives. Typhoon Kong-rey was packing winds of 184kph when it slammed into eastern Taiwan on Thursday, uprooting trees, triggering floods and landslides, and knocking out power as it swept across the nation. A 56-year-old female foreign national died from her injuries after the small truck she was in was struck by a falling tree on Provincial Highway 14A early on Thursday. The second death was reported at 8pm in Taipei on Thursday after a 48-year-old man
RSS