Investigation Summary
The helicopter departed Songshan Air Base at 07:54 local time. Approximately thirteen minutes into the flight, contact was lost as the aircraft entered mountainous terrain characterized by rapidly deteriorating visibility and heavy fog. The wreckage was located in a densely forested area of Wulai District. The crash was particularly significant due to the loss of the nation's highest-ranking military officer just nine days before the Taiwanese general election, leading to a temporary suspension of campaign activities by major political parties. The Taiwan Transportation Safety Board (TTSB) assisted in the analysis of the flight recorders, while proprietary hardware was sent to the manufacturer, Sikorsky, for data extraction.
Final Conclusions
The investigation concluded that the crash was caused by a combination of adverse weather and human factors. Specifically, the Control Yuan found that weather personnel failed to provide accurate or sufficient meteorological warnings regarding the conditions along the flight path. In July 2020, two members of the Air Force Weather Wing were impeached. In January 2022, the Judicial Yuan's Disciplinary Court barred one weather officer, Jen I-wei, from public sector work for two years, while charges against the second officer were dismissed due to insufficient evidence.
Video Analysis
No video analysis linked for this case file yet.
Crew Experience
Pilot
Lieutenant Colonel Yeh Chien-i (Fatal)
Co-pilot
Captain Liu Chen-fu (Fatal)
Systems & Failure Modes
Flight Recorders
The CVR and FDR were recovered on January 3, 2020, and required manufacturer assistance from Sikorsky to process proprietary hardware data.
Air Force Weather Wing
The unit responsible for providing meteorological data to the crew; failures in their reporting led to the impeachment of two officers.
Interesting Facts
- 01The accident resulted in the death of the Republic of China's Chief of the General Staff, General Shen Yi-ming.
- 02Visibility at the time of the accident was reported as poor due to heavy fog in the mountainous terrain.
- 03The aircraft was a relatively new UH-60M variant of the Black Hawk helicopter.
- 04Five individuals survived the crash, including a military news agency reporter and several high-ranking officers.
- 05The crash occurred only nine days before the 2020 Taiwanese general election.
Safety Actions & Advisories
Weather Reporting Disciplinary Action
The Judicial Yuan barred weather officer Jen I-wei from the public sector for two years following findings of negligence in reporting weather conditions for the flight.
Impeachment of Weather Personnel
The Control Yuan impeached two members of the Air Force Weather Wing, Jen I-wei and Chou Shih-kai, for failing to provide accurate meteorological warnings along the flight path.
Location
ACCIDENT SITE · Coordinates taken from the official investigation report.