Blackhawk down...

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On Feb 5, a blackhawk from the airborne service corps went on a med evac mission to Lanyu to airlift a patient in need of surgery to Taidong.

Soon after the blackhawk took off at Lanyu airport in pretty terrible weather, flight controllers lost contact with the helicopter.

Most of the early news on the 6th focused on the search and rescue mission, but then a major earthquake hit Hualien and brought down two buildings.

They finally disclosed what happened to the blackhawk a week later. It’s been lost at sea, 2 nautical miles west of Lanyu airport, sitting 850 meters under the ocean surface. All 6 on board have been pronounced dead.

Here’s to the brave crew members who braved the storm to save lives.

R.I.P.

8 Likes
2

Feelsbadman.
Rip.

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Is it just me or does Taiwan have a lot of issues with Blackhawk helicopters?

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Not just Blackhawks–helicopters in general…and pretty much any kind of aircraft. To be fair, weather conditions can get pretty extreme in these parts.

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I think Apaches also had issues because of humidity and they think it’s not even feasible to use them for military use here. And seems like fighter jets have accidents or go missing often as well.

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Add in massive mountains and large numbers of training flights on aging jets. Yes it’s dangerous out there.

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feelsbatman