2nd LD-Writethru: Two killed in Taiwan trainer aircraft crash

Use of ultralight aircraft in parts of Taiwan has been suspended after a light trainer aircraft plunged into a lagoon, killing both on board, on Monday.

Pingtung County fire service department said the single-engine Rans S-6 PA 2002 trainer light aircraft crashed into the Dapeng Bay in southern Taiwan at about 10:40 a.m. around half an hour after takeoff. Rescue workers were at the scene in about 10 minutes.

Pilot Ko Ming-hsiu and his trainee and relative Yang Tsung-ju were taken from the water, showing no signs of life.

The fixed-wing light aircraft seemed to have lost its power before the crash, media reports said, citing Lee Pao-kang, an investigator with the Aviation Safety Council who examined the site on Monday afternoon.

The exact cause of the accident is still under investigation and a full report on the accident is expected in one to two months.

After the accident, flights by the Sport Aviation Association were suspended at Dapeng, site of Taiwan's first legitimate light aircraft airport.

The ill-fated ultralight flyer, manufactured by U.S.-based Rans Designs Inc., was used for training and tourism purposes.

The association had to suspend operations in 2012 due to contractual problems and only resumed operations this year.

According to Taiwan's rules on ultralight aircraft management, only qualified pilots can fly such aircraft and only in specific airspace.

An emergency landing of an ultralight aircraft was reported in Dapeng Bay on March 21, 2010, the only other incident involving the light aircraft in Taiwan before Monday's crash.

Also on Monday, a TH-67 military helicopter collided with another helicopter on the apron of a military base in Tainan City during training, damaging the tail rotors of both aircraft but without casualties, according to media reports. Endi