A light airplane crashed in Changhua on the 16, killing the pilot and a Japanese passenger. The cause of the accident is under investigation.
Family members of the Japanese national and flight instructor surnamed Lin headed to the mortuary on March 17 to take care of funeral arrangements, one day after the light airplane carrying the two crashed in Changhua County. Local prosecutors were also there to confirm the cause of death.
Chen Ting-wen, Prosecutor, Changhua District Prosecutors Office: “We won't know the cause of the accident until the Transportation Safety Board and the Civil Aeronautics Administration issue a detailed investigatory report.”
The plane crashed in Changhua's Xizhou Township. The entrance to the airfield where it took off from was closed. Local residents witnessed the crash and still had some trepidation.
Mr. Wang, Witness: “It circled two to three times, and then flew over to Ershui and back. My butt was very sore at that moment, and I saw it making a turn and hitting the ground as I stood up.”
The accident occurred on the afternoon of March 16. The light airplane had taken off from the airfield. The accident happened at around 3 p.m., reportedly when the plane was descending. It crashed into a meadow along the Zhuoshui River next to a dike. The impact of the collision started a fire, which was quickly extinguished by firefighters. A Japanese tourist who had come to Taiwan to learn how to fly was on board, along with a flight instructor surnamed Lin. They were both killed in the accident. The Transportation Safety Board is investigating five main factors.
Lin Pei-da, Chairperson, Transportation Safety Board: “The factors are weather, maintenance, flight operations, aircraft performance, and human factors. Of course, we're not excluding other ones from our investigation. Right now, there are no signs that it was caused by the weather, but we need aerial shots to construct a model for the orographic wind part.”
The police said the airfield was a legal operation and Lin was experienced with over 1,000 flight hours. The TSB said it has ruled out weather as the cause at the moment. It will take aerial shots of the scene and collect related information to determine the cause of the accident.
彰化輕航機墜機事故第二天，罹難的日籍遊客和林姓教練的家屬，來到殯儀館處理後續，彰化檢方相驗確認兩人死因。
彰化地檢署檢察官陳鼎文說：「就飛行事故原因的部分，要等運安會、民航局做出詳盡調查報告才可以加以釐清。」
回到事發現場，位在彰化溪州的這處飛行場大門深鎖，但附近民眾說起目擊事發經過，還是心有餘悸。
目擊者王先生說：「盤旋大約2、3圈，飛到二水那邊又飛回來，我當時屁股很痠一站起來，剛好看到它轉彎就往地上插下去。」
事故發生在16日下午，墜毀的輕航機從這處飛行場起飛，下午三點左右疑似要降落時發生意外，墜落在濁水溪旁，河堤邊的草地。當時衝撞力道強大燃起熊熊火勢，消防人員趕緊滅火，但機上一名來台體驗飛行的日籍遊客，和林姓教練當場死亡。而國家運輸安全委員會，也將針對五大面向著手調查。
運安會執行長林沛達指出：「天候、機務、飛航操作、航機性能以及人為因素，這幾個面向當然我們不排除，有其他的面向需要做調查，目前看起來是沒有這（天候因素）跡象，但有關地形風的部分，我們需要去進行空拍、建構模型。」
警方表示，這處飛行場屬合法經營，林姓教練的飛行時數也超過1000多個小時，經驗相當豐富。運安會表示，雖然目前排除天候因素影響，但是否有其他因素，還要透過現場的空拍，相關資料的取得來確認，現在也取得部分資料，正在進一步分析釐清。
