The UH-60M Black Hawk helicopter involved in the accident on Jan. 2 was commissioned by the Army in October 2019, and responsible for aerial attacks, transportation, and battlefield assistance. This wasn't the first accident involving a Black Hawk helicopter in Taiwan. In February 2018, one crashed in the waters off of Orchid Island. The bodies of two of the six people on board were recovered, and the four others have not been found.


Army soldiers board a UH-60M Black Hawk helicopter. On Oct. 30, 2019, the Army commissioned Black Hawk helicopters in Taichung. Just two months later, on Jan. 2, it was reported that one of the helicopters had force landed in New Taipei City's mountainous Wulai District. There were 13 passengers on board, including Chief of the General Staff Shen Yi-ming. Military experts say Black Hawk helicopters are widely used around the world and have received positive evaluations.

It is used extensively for purposes including the transport of troops and supplies. It is also used for search and rescue, and some are even modified for special warfare assaults. Militaries around the world have affirmed this model's overall reliability and performance.

The military procured 60 UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters from the United States in 2008. Thirty were distributed to the Army, 15 to the Air Force, and 15 to the National Airborne Service Corps. In February 2018, a Black Hawk helicopter operated by the NASC and transporting a patient from Orchid Island crashed into the sea, killing all six on board. In January 2016, a Black Hawk helicopter taking part in a training drill made a forced landing in the middle of Taichung after an alarm signal went off. Military experts said the cause of the latest accident is still under investigation.

That helicopter belonged to the National Airborne Service Corps. The one this time belonged to the military. Even though it's said that the helicopters belong to the NASC, they were on loan from the military. The main point is that the pilots are different.

The investigate report for the Orchid Island accident noted that the cause was related to the insufficient training of NASC personnel. Military experts say it is necessary to look at the flight safety report of every accident to analyze the reason.



陸軍官兵搭乘UH60M黑鷹直升機，去年10月30號，黑鷹直升機才在台中，舉行全作戰成軍典禮；才剛過兩個月的時間，2號上午驚傳有黑鷹直升機在新北市烏來山區迫降，機上還搭載參謀總長沈一鳴在內、共13人。軍事專家指出，黑鷹直升機在各國運用廣泛，而且評價都不錯。

亞太防務雜誌總編輯 鄭繼文表示：「它(黑鷹)這個用途比較廣泛，包括像運兵運送物資，還有像搜救，甚至有一些經過特別改裝以後，它還可以進行特戰突擊，這個型的直升機，它的綜合可靠性，性能來講，還是比較受到各國軍方的肯定和重視。」

國軍在2008年，向美國採購60架UH-60M黑鷹直升機，其中陸軍保留30架，空軍有15架，另外15架移交內政部空勤總隊使用。2018年2月執行蘭嶼接送病患、不幸墜海，造成6人死亡，就是隸屬空勤總隊的黑鷹直升機。此外2016年1月，也曾有一架黑鷹直升機，在執行飛行訓練時，因為傳動箱異常警告燈亮起，而必須在台中市區迫降。不過軍事專家認為，這次迫降的原因，還有待進一步調查。

全球防衛雜誌資深編輯 宋玉寧表示：「那一架直升機是空勤總隊的，這一次的是軍方的直升機，這個雖然說空勤總隊的直升機，也是由軍方借給他們的，可是問題是你操作的人員不同，這個又不一樣了。」

蘭嶼這起事故，調查報告指出是空勤總隊訓練不足；軍事專家也認為，每一起意外都必須視飛安報告來判讀原因。