The construction project of the Taitung Base of Airborne Service Corps, MOI has entered a new phase. On March 4, 2022, the beam-raising ceremony of the “Helicopter Hangar Construction Project at Taitung Base” was held. Hosted by General Commander Jing Yan-Yuan, the construction team prepared offerings, including flowers and fruits, to pray for the smooth progression of the construction and safety of the personnel.
To enhance the capacity in air rescue, protect people’s life and property, and win people’s trust of the governance, the National Airborne Service Corps has endorsed the construction of the training base for air rescue in eastern Taiwan. Overcoming the epidemic, climate, the airport’s headroom, limitations in construction, and other unfavorable issues hindering the construction, the Corps have endeavored to push the construction ahead. It is estimated that the construction will be completed in September 2022. It is projected to be equipped with three Black Hawk helicopters to carry out the rescue missions in Taitung, Green Island, and the coastal areas of southeast Taiwan. At the same time, it will also serve as a training ground for transitional and improvement purposes.
The National Airborne Service Corps has encountered difficulties regarding the construction of Taitung Base. It corresponded with many agencies through the exchange of documents and frequent meetings, communications, and negotiations. Especially, it had discussed with Taitung County Government closely, which agreed to allocate the Corps land with the area of 3,436m2 without compensation to solve the problem of not reaching the standard of building line, resulting in failure in applying for a construction license. The construction works have been conducted professionally by the Construction and Planning Agency, MOI on behalf of the Corps. Meanwhile, the design and supervision are the responsibility of L. H. C. Planning & Design Group. With the total budget of NT$ 410 million, the area of the base is about 4 hectares, linking to the taxiways of Taitung Airport with connection roads. The specially designed apron allows three helicopters to be on standby. The hangar, including the standby block, maintenance block, and hangar block, has the capacity for the parking of six helicopters. The gate of the hangar is 54m wide, equipped with a windbreak and anti-typhoon sliding gate that can tolerate the strong wind at scale 17. Being an electrical gate, it can also be opened manually. It takes only 5 minutes to open the gate fully. In case of power failure, it will be switched to manual operation mode immediately. It takes only two persons to push the door leaf. In the apron, there is a plane washing ramp to wash the saline off the helicopters after conducting sea missions to reduce rust and corrosion. In addition, there is a constant temperature and humidity-controlled warehouse for the storage of the high-price aircraft materials to ensure their shelf life and safety.
General Commander Jing Yan-Yuan of the National Airborne Service Corps holds a positive attitude towards the construction team that has maintained the schedule despite the protocols announced by the Central Epidemic Command Center during the pandemic, and its upholding of self-management and other measures to ensure the safety of personnel during the pandemic. He also expressed his gratitude to the team for their labor and hoped for the construction to be completed on time and meet the quality standard so that the Crops can reside in the base in the earliest possible time. Then, it will boost the air rescue capacity in the eastern Taiwan area.