INVESTIGATION TEAM GOES TO CRASH SITE, REMOVES WRECKAGE|齊柏林花蓮空難 飛安會現場勘驗

On June 10, documentary filmmaker Chi Po-lin was killed in a helicopter crash while filming over Hualien. Yesterday afternoon the prosecutors office and forensic teams investigated the crash site and relatives came to hold a ceremony. The prosecutors have ruled out a few possible causes of the crash, saying that the helicopter probably wasn't caught in overhead power lines and that it didn't catch fire while still in the air. Today, the bodies of Chi and two other victims will be brought back to Taipei on a military flight scheduled to arrive at 9 am. Together with officials from the Aviation Safety Council and the Civil Aeronautics Administration, Emerald Pacific Airline staff, prosecutors and a forensics team went to the crash site. They interviewed eye witnesses seeking the reasons for the fatal crash. ==LEE BAO-KANG Aviation Safety Council Investigator== Preliminary investigation of the crash site showed that there was no snagging on cables or wires, so this cause for the accident has been ruled out and the helicopter was not on fire before it hit the ground. The Hualien prosecutors office said that the three bodies were on the left side of the crash and did not rule out that the helicopter veered to the left before the crash. However, whether it was mechanical failure, pilot control, or climatic factors which caused the crash, will be unknown until the wreckage is removed from the site to an ASC lab for analysis of the exact cause. As the helicopter did not have a black box, the investigation will be difficult, but the ASC said that it would proceed according to previous experience. ==LEE BAO-KANG Aviation Safety Council Investigator== The control system, the engine, the operation pilot operation, including the weather which you just mentioned, the local terrain which may cause some airflow, whether this affected the flight are all items in our all investigation, which is very much an in-depth investigation. On Sunday, relatives came to the crash site to hold a ceremony for those onboard, Chi Po-lin, his assistant Chen Kuan-chi and the pilot Chang Chih-kuang. The forensic team went to Hualien Municipal mortuary to take DNA samples, as the bodies were hard to identify visually. According to the families' wishes, they will be removed to Taipei City Mortuary to await DNA results. ==CHI PO-LIN'S MOTHER IN LAW== He was a very respectful son in law, more like a son. The Emerald Pacific Airline has two other helicopters which have been grounded by the ASC until it is satisfied that they are safe to fly. TRANSLATED BY：CLARE LEAR