內政部空中勤務總隊全球資訊網-英文網內政部空中勤務總隊全球資訊網-英文網

To implement the maintenance strategy and promote repairing skills, the National Airborne Service Corps, MOI conducted the 2022 retraining program of BEECH fixed-wing aircraft at AIR ASIA Company Limited in Tainan from March 16 to 18, 2022. In the program, sessions on the body, engine, avionics, and maintenance practice were offered. The trainees included maintenance staff and chief machinists from the First and Second Squad of the Second Brigade, National Airborne Service Corps, MOI. After the training, evaluations were conducted to test their maintenance and troubleshooting ability in the BEECH fixed-wing aircraft. Eventually, all the trainees passed the evaluation. Affected by the epidemic, the trainees conducted self-management and protection measures according to the guidelines of the Central Epidemic Command Center during the retraining. During the retraining, the instructors taught the trainees the knowledge, skills, and experiences concerning aircraft maintenance patiently. During the sessions, the trainees asked questions about ways for efficient troubleshooting from time to time. In the process of periodic maintenance and inspection, non-routine maintenance, and after receiving aircrafts, problems may appear. They conducted vivid discussions, exchanged ideas, and shared experiences regarding technical issues. They all learned considerably from the sessions. Promoted by the government regarding re-organization, the National Airborne Service Corps took over five major missions to support the air disaster relief, air rescue, emergent medical service, observation and patrol, and transportation. When receiving assignments, the personnel on duty have to check the details (such as weather, aircraft conditions, and capacity) with related units. Aircrafts will be dispatched in accordance with the priorities of life, degree of emergency, and remote islands. Then, suitable aircrafts in the nearest locations with the capacity to be mobilized promptly will be assigned to carry out the rescue missions. Now, there are fixed-wing aircrafts of AS-365, UH-60M, and BEECH. To ensure flight safety of the aircrafts, periodic inspections, system structure check, post-completion check, technical modification, technical report, and other maintenance items are conducted before, during, and after the air missions. To empower the maintenance quality, these items are required to be listed in the aircraft maintenance plans to be carried out by the maintenance and control department and re-examined by the personnel in the quality control department. The National Airborne Service Corps is responsible for five major missions, and it endeavors to carry out assignments in disaster relief, rescue, and emergent medical service by exploiting every second with the fastest possible speed. Only by upholding flight safety, it is able for them to complete missions smoothly. Likewise, it is essential to implement the aircraft maintenance strategy to maintain the flight safety policy.

A.Air response1.Response to fire：220 sorties, 11 passengers, 9320kg of material, equipment or fuel carried, 2110 tons of water dropped,1055 water dropping runs.2.Response to flood：14 sorties, 22 people rescued, 17 passengers, 4337kg of material, equipment or fuel carried.3.Response to major accident：4 sorties.B.Air rescue1.Search and rescue in the mountains：182 sorties, 123people rescued, 33 passengers, 3524kg of material, equipment or fuel carried.2.Search and rescue of drowning people：4 sorties, 2 people rescued.3.Search and rescue at sea: 49 sorties, 42 people rescued, 1 passenger.C.Medical assistance1.Medical evacuation：5 sorties, 13 people rescued, 1 passengers, 350kg of material, equipment or fuel carried.2.Organ transplant：66 sorties, 67 people rescued, 64 passengers, 50kg of material, equipment or fuel carried.D. Observation and patrol1.Maritime (coastal) aerial patrol：36 sorties.2.Aerial photography for homeland planning：78 sorties, 28 passengers, 300kg of material, equipment or fuel carried.E.Air transportation：15 sorties, 76 passengers, 5526kg of material, equipment or fuel carried.F.Preparation1.Exercise (drill)：17 sorties.2.Training flight：887 sorties.3.Test run：1033 sorties.4.Joined duty training：18 sorties.5.Maintenance flight：440 sorties.

A. Air response 1. Response to fire: 4 sorties, 16 tons of water dropped, 8 water dropping runs. 2. Response to flood: 1 sorty, 13 people rescued.B. Air rescue 1. Search and rescue in the mountains: 67 sorties, 35 people rescued, 12 passengers, 1,300 kg of material, equipment or fuel carried. 2. Search and rescue of drowning people:2 sorties. 3. Search and rescue at sea: 10 sorties, 32 people rescued.C. Medical assistance 1. Medical referral: 13 sorties, 13 people rescued, 13 passengers, 50 kg of material, equipment or fuel carried.D. Observation and patrol 1. Maritime (coastal) aerial patrol: 10 sorties. 2. Aerial photography for homeland planning: 1 sorty.E. Air transportation1. Air transportation: 4 sorties, 32 passengers, 1,005 kg of material, equipment or fuel carried.F. Preparation 1. Exercise (drill): 3 sorties. 2. Training flight: 161 sorties. 3. Test run: 187 sorties. 4. Joined duty training: 2 sorties. 5. Maintenance flight (factory flight test): 87 sorties.

A. Air response 1. Response to fire:3sorties, 32 tons of water dropped, 16 water dropping runs.B. Air rescue 1. Search and rescue in the mountains: 26 sorties, 18 people rescued, 2 passengers, 180 kg of material, equipment or fuel carried. 2. Search and rescue of drowning people:2 sorties, 2 people rescued. 3. Search and rescue at sea: 11 sorties, 1 people rescued, 1 passenger.C. Medical assistance 1. Medical evacuation:1 sorties, 1 people rescued. 2. Medical referral: 15 sorties, 15 people rescued, 13 passengers.D. Observation and patrol 1. Maritime (coastal) aerial patrol: 10 sorties. 2. Aerial photography for homeland planning: 1 sorty.E. Air transportation1. Air transportation: 2 sorties, 7passengers, 350 kg of material, equipment or fuel carried.F. Preparation 1. Exercise (drill): 2 sorties. 2. Training flight: 149 sorties. 3. Test run: 197 sorties. 4. Joined duty training: 3 sorties. 5. Maintenance flight (factory flight test): 74 sorties.

A.Air rescue 1. Search and rescue in the mountains:11 sorties, 4 people rescued, 1 passengers.B.Medical assistance 1. Organ transplant:4 sorties, 4 people rescued, 4 passengers.C.Observation and patrol 1. Maritime (coastal) aerial patrol:4 sorties.D.Air transportation 1. Air transportation:3 sorties, 24 passengers.E. Preparation 1. Training flight:69 sorties. 3. Test run:71 sorties. 5. Maintenance flight:16 sorties.

A. Air response 1. Response to fire:1 sorties. 2. Response to flood:1 sorties, 13 people rescued.B. Air rescue 1. Search and rescue in the mountains:20 sorties, 22 people rescued. 2. Search and rescue of drowning people:2 sorties. 3. Search and rescue at sea:10 sorties, 32 people rescued.C. Medical assistance 1. Organ transplant:6 sorties, 6 people rescued, 6 passengers.D. Observation and patrol 1. Maritime (coastal) aerial patrol:2 sorties.E. Preparation 1. Exercise (drill):3 sorties. 2. Training flight:55 sorties. 3. Test run:54 sorties. 4. Joined duty training:2 sorties. 5. Maintenance flight:47 sorties.

A. Air response 1. Response to fire: 1 sorties.B. Air rescue 1. Search and rescue in the mountains: 21 sorties, 15 people rescued, 2 passengers. 2. Search and rescue of drowning people: 2 sorties, 2 people rescued. 3. Search and rescue at sea: 4 sorties, 1 passengers.C. Medical assistance 1. Organ transplant: 4 sorties, 4 people rescued, 4 passengers.D. Observation and patrol 1. Maritime (coastal) aerial patrol: 2 sorties.E. Air transportation 1. Air transportation: 2 sorties, 7 passengers.F. Preparation 1. Exercise (drill): 2 sorties. 2. Training flight: 44 sorties. 3. Test run: 64 sorties. 4. Joined duty training: 3 sorties. 5. Maintenance flight (factory flight test): 26 sorties.

A. Air response 1. Response to fire: 2 sorties.B. Air rescue 1. Search and rescue in the mountains: 3 sorties, 2 people rescued.C. Medical assistance 1. Medical evacuation: 1 sorties, 1 people rescued. 2. Organ transplant: 6 sorties, 6 people rescued, 6 passengers.D. Observation and patrol 1. Maritime (coastal) aerial patrol: 4 sorties. 2. Aerial photography for homeland planning: 1 sortiesE. Preparation 1. Training flight: 46 sorties. 2. Test run: 64 sorties. 3. Maintenance flight (factory flight test): 21 sorties.

A. Search & rescue 1. Search and rescue in the mountains: 2 sorties, 1 people rescued. 2. Search and rescue at sea: 7 sorties, 1 people rescued.B. Emergency medical 1. Medical referral: 5 sorties, 5 people rescued, 3 passengers.C. Reconnaissance 1. Maritime (coastal) aerial patrol: 4 sorties.D. Preparation 1. Training flight: 59 sorties. 2. Test run: 69 sorties. 3. Maintenance flight (factory flight test): 27 sorties.

A. Disaster relief 1. Response to fire: 213 sorties, 11 passengers, 9,320 kg of material, equipment or fuel carried, 2,062 tons of water dropped, 1,031 water dropping runs. 2. Response to major accident: 4 sorties.B. Search & rescue 1. Search and rescue in the mountains: 76 sorties, 58 people rescued, 18 passengers, 2,044 kg of material, equipment or fuel carried. 2. Search and rescue at sea: 16 sorties, 7 people rescued.C. Emergency medical 1. Medical evacuation: 3 sorties, 11 people rescued, 350 kg of material, equipment or fuel carried. 2. Medical referral: 33 sorties, 34 people rescued, 33 passengers.D. Reconnaissance 1. Maritime (coastal) aerial patrol: 16 sorties. 2. Aerial photography for homeland planning: 7 sorties, 28 passengers, 300 kg of material, equipment or fuel carried.E. Transportation: 4 sorties, 13 passengers, 1,670 kg of material, equipment or fuel carried.F. Preparation 1. Exercise (drill): 8 sorties. 2. Training flight: 248 sorties. 2. Test run: 437 sorties. 3. Joined duty training: 13 sorties. 4. Maintenance flight (factory flight test): 129 sorties.

A. Disaster relief 1. Response to fire: 111 sorties, 11 passengers, 5,770 kg of material, equipment or fuel carried, 1,142 tons of water dropped, 571 water dropping runs. 2. Response to major accident: 1 sorties.B. Search & rescue 1. Search and rescue in the mountains: 25 sorties, 20 people rescued, 3 passengers, 90 kg of material, equipment or fuel carried. 2. Search and rescue at sea: 11 sorties, 2 people rescued.C. Emergency medical 1. Medical evacuation: 2 sorties, 10 people rescued. 2. Medical referral: 17 sorties, 18 people rescued, 17 passengers.D. Reconnaissance 1. Maritime (coastal) aerial patrol: 9 sorties. 2. Aerial photography for homeland planning: 3 sorties, 24 passengers, 300 kg of material, equipment or fuel carried.E. Transportation: 4 sorties, 13 passengers, 1,670 kg of material, equipment or fuel carried.F. Preparation 1. Exercise (drill): 8 sorties. 1. Training flight: 132 sorties. 2. Test run: 214 sorties. 3. Joined duty training: 6 sorties. 4. Maintenance flight (factory flight test): 47 sorties.

Disaster reliefResponse to fire: 102 sorties, 11 passengers, 3,550 kg of material, equipment or fuel carried, 920 tons of water dropped, 460 water dropping runs.Response to major accident: 3 sorties.Search & rescueSearch and rescue in the mountains: 51 sorties, 38 people rescued, 15 passengers, 1,954 kg of material, equipment or fuel carried.Search and rescue at sea: 5 sorties, 5 people rescued.Emergency medicalMedical evacuation: 1 sorties, 1 people rescued.Medical referral: 16 sorties, 16 people rescued, 16 passengers.ReconnaissanceMaritime (coastal) aerial patrol: 7 sorties.Aerial photography for homeland planning: 4sorties, 4 passengers.Transportation: 3 sorties, 24 passengers, 2,065 kg of material, equipment or fuel carried.PreparationTraining flight: 116 sorties.Test run: 223 sorties.Joined duty training: 7 sorties.Maintenance flight (factory flight test): 82 sorties.

Three fires broke out in the forests and the National Airborne Service Corps dispatched four fleets on the firefighting missions.The 81st forest compartment at Qishan, Kaohsiung burst into flame just before nightfall on Mar 2 2020. The remote location made it difficult for anybody to get in. As an effort to save the precious forests, Pingtung Forest District Office in charge of these forests asked the Service Corps for help. The sun was almost down when NASC received the phone call. The mission dispatch made a split-second decision to scramble the AS-365 Dolphin (NA-104) of the 2nd branch, Third Brigade at Xiaogang Airport, Kaohsiung to carry the firefighters of Forest Bureau for an aerial survey. As the AS-365 Dolphin (NA-104) arrived at the site at 16:36, multiple fires were spotted and spreading across a vast area. To make things more difficult, there were the power towers and cables of Taiwan Power Company near Laonong River where the firefighting water is located, and also several poles on which lifelines and buoys were attached. Seeing this, the crew reported back to the HQs. The dispatch on duty gave the heads-up to the crew of UH-60M Blackhawk (NA-709) of 3rd branch, Third Brigade stationed at Fongnien Airport, Taitung for the firefighting at day break, NA-709 took off at 06:57 on Mar 3 for the firefighting. Another Blackhawk, NA-704, was called in for support due to the difficulty in extracting water and fighting the fire.Around 07:20, another warning was received from the Chukou Station of Forest Bureau in Chiayi indicating more fires breaking out at the Tanayiku Natural Ecology Park. The UH-60M Blackhawk (NA-705, 2nd branch, Third Brigade at Taichung International Airport), which was ready to fly the Qishan mission, was redirected to the park for the firefighting. Arriving at the site at 09:32, NA-705 also spotted multiple fires and, therefore, requested another Blackhawk, NA-702, for backup.Just as both birds were dumping water on the fires, Nantou Forest District Office called and said a fire broke out at forest compartment 9 of Danda District at 14:23. The dispatch on duty scrambled the AS-365 Dolphin (NA-110) of 1st branch, Second Brigade at Taichung International Airport for an aerial survey. The UH-60M Blackhawk (NA-707) of third branch, first Brigade at Hualien Airport took off for the firefighting mission at 16:16. As the helicopter arrived at the site, the firefighters of Forest Bureau took over on the ground since it was difficult to scoop water from nearby water sources. Therefore, the air crew was put on standby. As NA-707 was on its way back to base, a call was received from Nantou County Police Department saying there was a hiker lost somewhere in the hills. NA-707 was immediately redirected for this assignment and headed to Taroko National Park for the search and rescue mission.As the fire spread very rapidly across a large area of Danda forest in Nantou and became difficult for the ground crew, the Corps took over the firefighting on Mar 4 by sending the UH-60M Blackhawk (NA-707) of third branch, First Brigade, taking off at 07:25, and the UH-60M Blackhawk (NA-709) of third branch, Third Brigade, taking off at 07:44, for a joint firefighting mission.As pointed out by the Corps, it is recommended that hikers travel in groups and have an experienced guide to help them for better safety. It is dry out there in the wild recently and hikers are advised to be careful with fire while cooking. It is all about preventing forest fire and protecting the precious woods. There are lots of steep mountains in Taiwan and the terrains are very dangerous. Fighting fire from the ground is very difficult in the case of forest fire. Oftentimes, it relies heavily on helicopters to fire forest fires. However, there are plenty of power towers, power cables, cableways and sky-pointing trees, all of which pose risks to helicopters to extract and dump water. The Corps urges all citizens to love your country and avoid wasting the precious resources.

Three forest compartment lands have been on fire and NASC dispatched four fleets to fulfill the fire extinguishing mission.Forest compartment land No. 81 located in Chishan, Kaohsiung was on fire on March 2, 2020 in the evening. As the fire scene is located in a remote area that is difficult to reach by foot, Pingtung Forest District Office in charge of the forest compartment therefore applied to NASC, Ministry of the Interior to extinguish the fire from the air in order to protect the precious forests. When NASC received the mission application, it was nearly the end of dusk. The staff in charge of dispatching personnel therefore immediately dispatched AS-365 Dauphin (No. NA-104) of Squadron 2 of the 3rd Wing stationed at Kaohsiung Siaogang Airport to firstly transport firefighting personnel of the Forestry Bureau to the fire scene for aerial survey. Upon reaching the forest compartment at 16:36, the AS-365 Dauphin (No. NA-104) helicopter immediately reported to the Center that there were a number of fire ignition points; the burning area was rather extensive; and the water fetching point located in Laonung River had not only many TAIPOWER’s electric towers and cables, but also some pillars with ropes and life buoys. The personnel on duty therefore inform the UH-60M Blackhawk (No. NA-709) of Squadron 3 of the 3rd Wing stationed at Taitung Fengnien Airport to extinguish the fire in the next morning. On the 3rd, NA-709 took off around 6:57 to implement the fire extinguishing mission. However, due to the difficulty of fetching the water and extinguishing the fire, NA-709 requested the Center to dispatch another Blackhawk NA-704 to support the mission. At this time, around 7:20, Forestry Bureau’s Chiayi Chukou Station immediately notified NASC of the forest fire occurred at Tanayiku Ecological Natural Park. The UH-60M Blackhawk helicopter (No. NA-705 of Squadron 2 of the 3rd Wing stationed at Taichung Ching Chuan Kang Airport) had its mission changed to extinguish the fire at Tanayiku Ecological Natural Park. Upon arrival of the fire scene at 9:32, NA-705 also found a number of fire ignition points and requested the Center to dispatch another Blackhawk NA-702 to support the mission.When these two Blackhawk fleet was implementing the water fetching and fire extinguishing mission, Forestry Bureau’s Nantou Forest District Office notified NASC of another fire occurred nearby forest compartment land No. 9 of Danda Working Circle at 14:23. The personnel on duty immediately dispatched AS-365 Dauphin (No. NA-110) of Squadron 1 of the 2nd Wing stationed at Taichung Ching Chuan Kang Airport to implement the aerial survey mission. Later at 16:16, UH-60M Blackhawk (No. NA-707) of Squadron 3 of the 1st Wing stationed at Hualien Airport took off to implement the fire extinguishing mission. As it was difficult to fetch water at the fire scene, Forestry Bureau’s ground firefighters were appointed to control the fire, whereas NASC was standby to support the ground firefighters. During its trip back to the station, NA-707 then received a mountain rescue mission request from the police office of Nantou County Government. NA-707 then immediately changed its mission to search and rescue the suspected victim at Taroko National Park.As the burning area of Nantou’s Danda Working Circle was rather extensive and the ground firefighters suffered difficulties in controlling the fire, on March 4, NASC then dispatched UH-60M Blackhawks NA-707 of Squadron 3 of the 1st Wing (took off around 7:25) and NA-709 of Squadron 3 of the 3rd Wing (took off around 7:44) to jointly implement the forest fire extinguishing mission.NASC pointed out that it was important and safer for hikers to hike in a group under the leadership of an experienced guide; and that, due to the recent dry season, hikers were highly suggested to pay attention to the fire when cooking. After all, it is difficult to plant and preserve precious tree species. Also, as Taiwan has a steep and rough terrain in mountainous area, it is extremely difficult to extinguish the fire, if any, and helicopters are often required to implement the fire extinguishing mission. Furthermore, electric towers, cables, transport cages and giant trees in mountain areas also result in a high level of risk to helicopters in water fetching and dropping missions. NASC therefore remind all citizens to love the lands of our country and not to waste the country’s limited resources.

Minister of the Interior Hsu Kuo-Yung paid a special visit to the 2nd Wing of NASC stationed in Taichung on January 8th to understand the duty implementation status and maintenance works of AS-365 Dauphin and UH-60M Black Hawk helicopter fleet. Minister of the Interior not only urged the fleet to properly implement aircraft maintenance works, pay great attention to aviation safety, but also affirmed NASC for effectively optimizing its rescue capacity.On January 2, 2020, a UH-60M Black Hawk helicopter under the Air Rescue Group, Ministry of National Defense (MND) unfortunately crashed into the valley of Tonghou River in Mount Hongludi, New Taipei City when flying from Air Force Song Shan Air Force Base to Dongaoling Radar Station in Suao, Yilan County. This accident has caused the death of a number of general officers and, among aviation accidents of aircrafts carrying senior military officers, set a new record of losing general officers with the highest rank. As NASC is subordinate to the Ministry of the Interior and supports air rescue missions, Minister of the Interior Hsu Kuo-Yung therefore, in the concern of possible impact to the morale of NASC, paid a special visit to NASC’s fleet stationed in Ching Chuan Kang Air Force Base, Taichung. Minister Hsu expressed that it was truly regrettable to see such accident happening to the Air Rescue Group of MND; and that, when the accident occurred, NASC also immediately dispatched helicopters to implement the rescue mission to save the lives without giving up any hope.Minister Hsu said that, confronted by severe climate change resulted from global warming, all disaster prevention and rescue units should break the conventional territory-based thinking to make an adequate rescue equipment plan; take necessary preventive measures; establish a regional joint-defense mechanism; and carefully and better respond to different or composite disasters. As NASC is currently upgrading fleet equipment and personnel, he also instructed NASC to ensure that the delivery of Black Hawk helicopters and progress thereof were on schedule; and to make reasonable plan on the equipment and personnel configuration after the old aircrafts were discharged from military services, leaving no blank space for the implementation of rescue mission. Minister Hsu emphasized that the weather was often unfavorable when NASC received a mission; and, to execute such high-risk missions, it was a must to conduct regular trainings based on different scenarios and with intensive practice. He said that this would help the crew to improve their teamwork spirit and disaster response capability; learn from mistakes and better their rescue skills; and implement the missions immediately upon receipt of the mission. Finally, after inspected maintenance works of the fleet, Minister Hsu expressed his confidence in NASC and encouraged NASC to bring the teamwork spirit into fully play, perform intensive mission-based trainings, implement maintenance strategy, abide by work rules, follow standard working process to check the weather conditions and aviation safety influential factors before taking a flight, carefully perform pre-flight check-ups, and establish an all-weather, 3-dimensional and high-mobility air rescue system to better protect the lives and assets of our people.