The Chief of General staff of the Taiwanese military, Shen Yi-ming, was one among eight people killed in a UH-60M Black Hawk helicopter crash that took place in the Wulai district near Taipei city, on Thursday.
The chopper carrying 13 armymen enroute to Yilan district airbase crashed while attempting an emergency landing in the mountains. Shen was on his way to visit troops and conduct inspections ahead of the Chinese New Year later this month when the helicopter crashed.
The aircraft disappeared from the radars at 8:07 a.m. with the last record of communication concerning visibility and weather conditions occurring a minute before the signal was lost.
“Five others on board the doomed aircraft survived,” said Air Force Commander Lt. Gen. Hsiung Hou-chi.