National Airborne Service Corps

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Coordinates: 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)
ROC National Airborne Service Corps Logo.svg
Logo
Flag of national airborne service of the Republic of China.svg
Flag
Agency overview
Formed10 March 2004
JurisdictionTaiwan (Republic of China)
HeadquartersXindian, New Taipei
Agency executive
  • [1], Director-General
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 agency of the Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of China (Taiwan) responsible for executing and providing support for search and rescue, disaster relief, emergency medical service, transportation, monitoring, reconnaissance and patrol in Taiwan.[2]

History[]

NASC was formed with the merging of 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.[3]

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.[4]

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.[5]

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.[6]

Organizational structure[]

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

Fleet[]

The NASC currently has 25 helicopters, of which 10 had the range to effectively operate across the Taiwan Strait in 2014.[7] 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 Variant In service Notes
Helicopters
UH-60M United States medium-lift helicopter 15 In service[9]
AS365 France medium-lift helicopter 9
UH-1H United States medium-lift helicopter Retired[9]
S-76 United States medium-lift helicopter Retired
CH-47 United States heavy-lift helicopter B-V 234MLR 3 retired in 2015[9]

Fleet stations[]

North[]

Middle[]

  • Taichung Airport (Second Brigade)

South[]

Transportation[]

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

See also[]

References[]

  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. ^ "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.
  4. ^ "Helicopter crashes during training exercise in Kaohsiung City". taiwanenglishnews.com. Taiwan English News. 7 April 2020. Retrieved 28 April 2020.
  5. ^ 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.
  6. ^ Strong, Matthew (13 February 2021). "Rescue operations triple as more Taiwanese travel in mountains". www.taiwannews.com.tw. Taiwan News. Retrieved 15 February 2021.
  7. ^ "Improve Kinmen Hospital: DPP - Taipei Times". 5 June 2014.
  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. Retrieved 2014-05-16.
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