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National Airborne Service Corps

Coordinates: 24°59′02″N 121°32′29″E / 24.983751°N 121.541369°E / 24.983751; 121.541369
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24°59′02″N 121°32′29″E / 24.983751°N 121.541369°E / 24.983751; 121.541369

National Airborne Service Corps
空中勤務總隊
Kōngzhōng Qínwù Zǒngduì (Mandarin)
Khûng-chûng Khiùn-vu Chúng-chhui (Hakka)
Agency overview
Formed10 March 2004
HeadquartersXindian, New Taipei, Taiwan
Agency executive
Parent agencyMinistry of the Interior
Websitewww.nasc.gov.tw
NASC helicopters at Taipei Songshan Airport. 19 July 2009
Second Brigade

The National Airborne Service Corps (NASC; traditional Chinese: 內政部空中勤務總隊; simplified Chinese: 内政部空中勤务总队; pinyin: Nèizhèngbù Kōngzhōng Qínwù Zǒngduì; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Lāi-chèng-pō͘ Khong-tiong Khîn-bū Chóng-tūi) is the sole agency of the Republic of China (Taiwan) that operates aircraft and helicopters besides military and paramilitary units. The agency is responsible for executing and providing aerial support for search and rescue, disaster relief, emergency medical service, transportation, monitoring, reconnaissance and patrol.[2]

History

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In July 2000, four workers employed by the government was stranded on a shoal of the Bazhang River when they are performing riverbed maintenance construction project and the flood strikes. Due to the bureaucracy of different authorities passing the buck, the workers were stranded for 3 hours and eventually overwhelmed by the flood. While the search and rescue personnel already arrived, they had no helicopter to fly, so they could do nothing but standing on the riverbanks, watching them drowning, and the whole situation was aired live on multiple news channels in Taiwan. The incident is known as the Bazhang River Incident (Chinese: 八掌溪事件). Due to the incompetence of bureaucracy, a unified authority was called to form.[3]

Hence, NASC was formed with the merging of four distinct agencies, namely the Airborne Squadron of National Police Agency, the Preparatory Office of the Airborne Fire Fighting Squadron of National Fire Agency, the Aviation Team of Civil Aeronautics Administration of Ministry of Transportation and Communications, and the Air Patrol Squadron of the Coast Guard Administration on 10 March 2004.[4]

In April 2020 a NASC AS-365 Dauphin helicopter crashed during a training exercise at Kaohsiung International Airport. All five crew members walked away from the crash.[5]

In July 2020 the Taiwanese President announced a major pay raise for NASC pilots and smaller pay raises for NASC support staff in recognition of their dangerous profession and the benefit they bring to Taiwanese in need. According to the President NASC had rescued more than 7,100 people since its founding in 2004. Their contribution to wildfire fighting was also acknowledged.[6]

A UH-1 helicopter in midair hanging a rescue officer, ready to fetch the wounded on the ground.
NASC UH-1H helicopter saw action in an air-raid drill in 2014

The NASC saw three times the rescue callouts in 2020 as 2019 due to increased domestic travel and hiking in mountain areas due to limits on international travel caused by the COVID-19 epidemic. An increase in the amount of land accessible to recreational hikers which coincided with the boom in hiking contributed to the high level of callouts. Given the high cost of rescue the NASC has begun to seek compensation from those with means who have to be rescued while hiking outside of legal hiking areas.[7]

Organizational structure

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  • Aviation Affairs Division
  • Maintenance Division
  • Duty Command Center
  • Secretariat
  • Personnel Office
  • Accounting Office
  • Civil Service Ethics Office
  • Service Brigade

Fleet

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Between 2009-01-01 and 2019-12-31 the fleet racked up 75,746 flight hours over 56,366 sorties and effected 3,891 rescues.[8]

Aircraft Origin Type Number Remarks
AS365 France medium-lift helicopter 8 (12) 8 in service; 4 crashed. For low-altitude missions.
BV234 MLR United States heavy-lift helicopter 0 (3) All retired in 2015.[9] For high-altitude missions.
S-76 United States medium-lift helicopter 0 (12) All retired. For low-altitude missions.
UH-1H United States medium-lift helicopter 0 (15) All retired.[9] For low-altitude missions.
Beech 200 United States twin-turboprop aircraft 1 (1) In active service. For aerial photograph and reconnaissance missions.
Beech 350 United States twin-turboprop aircraft 0 (1) Retired in 2015. For aerial photograph and reconnaissance missions. The retirement is due to a belly landing accident in July 2015, rendering the aircraft too costly to repair.[3]
UH-60M United States medium-lift helicopter 14 (15) 14 in service;[9] 1 crashed. For high-altitude missions. Transferred from the Armed Forces.

Fleet stations

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North

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Middle

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South

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Transportation

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NASC headquarters office is accessible within walking distance North of Dapinglin MRT station of the Taipei Metro.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "å…§æ"¿éƒ¨ç©ºä¸å‹¤å‹™ç¸½éšŠNational Airborne Service Corps,Ministry of the Interior Word Wide Web__ Introduction". Nasc.gov.tw. Retrieved 2014-04-22.
  2. ^ "AN OUTLINE OF INTERIOR AFFAIRS. REPUBLIC OF CHINA 2013-National Airborne Service". Moi.gov.tw. 2013-12-03. Archived from the original on 2014-02-01. Retrieved 2014-04-22.
  3. ^ a b 行政院農業委員會 Council of Agriculture, Executive Yuan (2019-08-01). "國家航遙測飛機更新計畫(109 至 117 年度)選擇方案及替代方案之成本效益分析報告" [The Cost-Benefit Analysis Report of the Options and the Alternatives for the National Airborne Reconnaissance Vehicle Upgrade Plan, Year 2020 - 2028] (in Traditional Chinese). Retrieved 2022-03-30.
  4. ^ "為什麼要成立空中勤務總隊?" [Why the NASC was formed?]. NASC (in Traditional Chinese). 2016-05-05. Retrieved 2022-03-20.
  5. ^ "Helicopter crashes during training exercise in Kaohsiung City". taiwanenglishnews.com. Taiwan English News. 7 April 2020. Retrieved 28 April 2020.
  6. ^ Tzu-ti, Huang (10 July 2020). "Largest pay raise announced for Taiwan's airborne service corps". www.taiwannews.com.tw. Taiwan News. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
  7. ^ Strong, Matthew (13 February 2021). "Rescue operations triple as more Taiwanese travel in mountains". www.taiwannews.com.tw. Taiwan News. Retrieved 15 February 2021.
  8. ^ "Performance". www.nasc.gov.tw. NASC. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
  9. ^ a b c "Taiwan National Airborne Services Corps". www.helis.com. Helis.com. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
  10. ^ "National Airborne Service Corps,Ministry of the Interior Word Wide Web__Fleet Station". Nasc.gov.tw. 2013-02-26. Archived from the original on 2010-01-20. Retrieved 2014-05-16.
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