Sounding the Alarm

Only five months after Taiwan (Republic of China) took delivery of its first six AH-64E Apache Block III helicopters in November, 2014, the first ill-fated Apache crashed due to human errors in a loiter and taxi practice.  This basic training was for developing pilot’s sense of feel, without any advanced combat maneuver.  The ROC Army is the first Apache user outside the US to receive the latest E model, the world’s most powerful attack chopper.  The order of 30 AH-64Es was part of a $6.5 billion arms deal unveiled in 2008 that irked PROC, at least subtly.  Somewhat ROC’s Apaches ain’t a real threat.

0958, 25 April, 2015, Apache s/n 808 flew by seed instructor Chen took off at the ROCA 601^st Brigade’s home base in northern Taiwan, his back-seater was the 601^st‘s deputy CO Liu.  Chen had 350 flt hr in Apache, and Liu had more than 1,000 flt hr in AH-1W SuperCobra.  This was Liu’s first Apache flight, he didn’t touch anything; the DFDR record revealed that it’s Chen did all the control.  Soon after T/O, Chen suddenly climbed from loiter altitude 120 ft to 350 ft under his spacial confusion.  Lost his ground reference, he even activated night vision device.  Before crash the control tower questioned his inadequate climbing, Chen used fogged up cockpit to conceal his mistake.

Surely crewman’s crapped-out airmanship for crashing an astronomical-priced chopper is inexcusable; Apache is not suitable for Taiwan’s requirements in the first place.  The lighter and cheaper Cobra can fully handle Taiwan’s high mountainous terrain and salty coastlines, neither are gracious to Apache.  But, Taiwanese top brass need the highest-tech equipment to justify their jobs, and the US needs to maximize its profit from Taiwan.  $70M is the Apache Longbow’s unit price for Taiwan, while $18M is for other Longbow operators.  With its aviator’s once-burnished reputation is being tarnished, ROC armed forces’ very survival is at stake.  It comes down to reality vs. wishful thinking, hopefully it’s not all doom and gloom.