Taiwan News
Date: 2015-09-25
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The search for the missing AT-3 training plane with two Air Force officers on board will focus on six locations in a remote mountainous part of Central Taiwan, reports said Friday.

The jet took off from an Air Force base in Kaohsiung just before noon Tuesday and disappeared half an hour later with instructor Major Wang Ching-chun, 32, and First Lieutenant Huang Chun-jung, 23, on board. The rescue effort has been extremely complicated because of the rough and remote terrain in the area where the training jet vanished off the radar.

Based on an analysis of the incident, the Air Force had reportedly identified six locations where the AT-3 might have come down, reports said Friday. Rescue teams would continue to make their way to the areas over land, including two groups totaling 49 people, but a total of 19 aircraft of various types would also be mobilized Friday afternoon, reports said.

The six areas were located in deep forest, but there were signs that there might have recently been fires or crashes, according to the Air Force Academy in Kaohsiung City, where Wang served. Helicopters had already approached the locations but had not found any signs of life. A thick cloud cover was still making reconnaissance in some areas difficult, the military said.     [FULL  STORY]