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進入《TAIPEI TIMES 焦點》 US repair crew arrives to fix F/A-18s
A military fan with a super-telephoto lens waits yesterday in Tainan Airforce Base to take pictures of US F/A-18 jets. Photo: CNA
TAINAN RESPITE: The US Marine Corps’ press office said the Tainan Airport is an US-approved divert airfield, but China’s foreign ministry said it had complained to Washington about the two US F/A-18s that landed in Tainan on Wednesday
By Jason Pan and Nadia Tsao / Staff reporters
A US C-130 transport plane arrived at the Tainan Air Force Base from a US Marine Corps base in Japan yesterday evening, carrying service crew to repair one of the two US F/A-18 jets that made an emergency landing in Tainan on Wednesday.
The repair crew arrived just hours after Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Hua Chunying （華春瑩） told a regular news briefing in Beijing that China had made solemn representations to the US side about the US Marine jets landing in Taiwan.
“We demand the US to strictly abide by the ‘one China’ policy and the three joint communiques between China and the US and to prudently deal with the relevant issue,” she said.
Earlier in the day, the two F/A-18s had been moved inside hangers belonging to Air Asia Co （亞洲航空）, which provides aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul services at the Tainan Airport.
Meanwhile, US Department of Defense officials confirmed the two F/A-18 Hornets were from US Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 323 （VMFA-323） based at Kadena Airfield in Okinawa, Japan.
They said the planes landed in Tainan as a precautionary measure and there had been no injuries to the crew or damage to the aircraft.
A statement by the US Marine Corps’ press office late on Wednesday said: “A persistent engine oil pressure warning light precipitated the precautionary emergency landing.”
It also said that the Tainan Airport is an US-approved divert airfield and that the jets had been enroute to Singapore to participate in the “Commando Sling” exercise with the city-state’s air force.
However, according to a source in Washington, the F/A-18s were providing escort and protection for a reconnaissance mission by EA-6B Prowler, a tactical jamming aircraft used by the US Navy and Marine Corps.
An EA-6B Prowler can carry out armed reconnaissance, electronic jamming operations, aerial surveillance tasks, and provides defense against anti-ship missiles.
The Washington source said that due to the sensitivity of its mission, the EA-6B Prowler did not land at Tainan Airport with its escort jets, but returned to its base on Okinawa.
The source also confirmed the escort mission took the F/A-18s and the EA-6B on a route along the air defense identification zone over the waters off the east coast of Taiwan and it was headed to either Singapore or the Philippines.
American Institute in Taiwan （AIT） spokesman Mark Zimmer said the US C-130 flew from US Marine Corps Iwakuni Air Base in Japan, carrying US maintenance personnel and aircraft parts, and landed about 8:34pm.
The maintenance crew then headed straight to the hangars to begin the necessary repair work.
An AIT team has also been sent to Tainan to help deal with the matter, Zimmer said.
It was not immediately clear how long it would take to repair the aircraft.
The Republic of China Air Force official said the US maintenance crew was expected to stay overnight to carry out the repairs.
The F/A-18s will depart Taiwan as soon as the repairs are completed and the aircraft passes the necessary safety tests, the official added.
Air Asia is now owned by Aerospace Corp （台翔航太）, but during the Cold War era it was an aircraft service unit for Air America, which was created by CIA for covert operations East Asia and Southeast Asia.
The company is certified for maintenance and servicing of various aircrafts and has links with American aviation industry, and its location renders the Tainan Airport an US-approved divert air field.
Additional reporting by CNA
新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES
A US F/A-18 fighter aircraft sits on the ground at Tainan Airforce Base, one of two F/A-18s forced to make emergency landings at the base on Wednesday following mechanical problems. Screen grab from the Internet
