Taiwan’s Bell Kiowa Helicopter Makes Emergency Landing

Taiwan Army’s Bell OH-58D Kiowa helicopter made an emergency landing in Tainan on Tuesday after a warning light indicating excessive rotor speed lit up.

The crew, from the Army’s Aviation and Special Forces Command, were performing a routine nighttime training mission when the helicopter’s rotor speed became too high, per CNA. They followed standard operating procedures and landed safely in a field south of the Tainan Airport.

Both the crew and the helicopter were unharmed.

Another Kiowa performed a hard landing at Hsinchu base in July 2020 after the rotor speed slowed. Both pilot and the co-pilot suffered serious injuries in the crash and later died at the hospital.

The Taiwanese military purchased a number of Kiowa helicopters to supplement its U.S.-made SuperCobras bought in 1997. The Army still has 37 Kiowas in its fleet.

The Kiowa “conducts armed reconnaissance, security, target acquisition and designation, command and control, light attack, and defensive air combat missions in support of combat and contingency operations,