Did Taiwan’s outdated equipment cause the crash of the T-34 trainer aircraft? The military denies that the equipment was not properly maintained

By The United Daily News

2 Jun 2026

A T-34 trainer aircraft (registration number 3414) belonging to the Taiwanese Air Force’s Flight Training Command and based at Kaohsiung Air Base crashed at the northern end of the runway at Kaohsiung Air Base today whilst Lieutenant Colonel Lu Chi-yu and Lieutenant Colonel Kuo Chun-nan were conducting a training mission. While there has been speculation that the crash was caused by equipment failure due to the aircraft’s age, the Air Force has denied this, emphasising that both the fleet’s serviceability rate and the condition of the equipment are “in compliance with standards”.

Major General Chiang Yi-cheng, Inspector General of the Air Force Headquarters, pointed out that the fleet’s serviceability rate and the condition of the equipment are in fact compliant with regulations and meet the required standards. The military acknowledged that the T-34 trainer aircraft has “reached a certain age”, but noted that three other countries worldwide are still operating this model, and that the incident was not caused by the aircraft’s age rendering it a “life-threatening” situation.

However, the late Lieutenant Colonel Lu Chi-yu had posted on social media five years ago: “I don’t know about tanks, but flying a T-34 is definitely a death-defying feat!” The military stated that this was a personal opinion, but that the unit had not received any such information during the training process.

The Air Force Flight Training Command explained that the crashed aircraft, registered as ASE-10, serial number 3414, a T-34C model, had only completed its weekly maintenance check on 9 April this year. Since passing that inspection, the aircraft had flown 98 hours and 55 minutes without any major malfunctions.

The flight was conducted by Senior Instructor Lieutenant Colonel Lu Ji-you in the front seat and Evaluation Officer Lieutenant Colonel Guo Jun-nan in the rear seat.

Lieutenant Colonel Lu Chi-yu has a total flight time of 2,114 hours and 5 minutes, with 1,937 hours and 50 minutes on this particular aircraft type; he has passed all required medical examinations, including flight medical, aviation physiology and survival training. Lieutenant Colonel Kuo Chun-nan has a total flight time of 2,172 hours and 35 minutes, with 1,782 hours and 15 minutes on this aircraft type; he has likewise passed all required flight medical, aviation physiology and survival training.