Chang Kuo-wei said too many senior military officers flew together in helicopter, military insists it followed rules
Taiwan News
Date: 2020/01/04
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer
StarLux Airlines Chairman Chang Kuo-wei. (CNA photo)
Eight officers, including Chief of General Staff Shen Yi-ming (沈一鳴), died when their Black Hawk helicopter crashed on a flight from Taipei to Yilan County, in an isolated area on Thursday (Jan. 2) morning, with five others surviving.
In an online post, Chang questioned the wisdom of putting so many generals together in one aircraft, questioning the military's sense of risk management. An investigation should find out who was responsible for arranging the trip, and in the worst case, the culprit “should be shot,” wrote the airline chief, himself a pilot.
The remark touched off a firestorm of comments, leading him to apologize and to delete his text. Chang explained that a helicopter, unlike an airplane, was not a stable means of air transport, so there should have been at least two helicopters on the trip, the Liberty Times reported.
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