1991 PLA Ground Force Aviation S-70 helicopter crash

The 1991 People's Liberation Army Ground Force Aviation S-70 helicopter crash was a Chinese air disaster that occurred on 16 June 1991; an S-70 Black Hawk helicopter belonging to the Chinese People's Liberation Army Ground Force Aviation, flying from Nyalam County, Tibet Autonomous Region, to Shigatse, struck a mountain and crashed while making a 180-degree right turn. All 13 people on board were killed.

Course of events

In May 1991, Lieutenant General Zhang Taiheng, commander of the Chengdu Military Region, led a working group to Lhasa to inspect and guide security work for the celebrations of the 40th anniversary of the peaceful liberation of Tibet, and attended the celebrations on behalf of the military region. After the celebrations ended, Zhang Taiheng led the working group on a border defence survey along the China-Nepal border. On 16 June, after inspecting the Zhangmu port border defence company, the working group boarded at Nyalam the three Black Hawk helicopters in which they had come, to go to Shigatse. Before takeoff, Zhang Taiheng asked whether the weather permitted takeoff and received an affirmative answer from the pilots. Zhang Taiheng and others then boarded the first helicopter, flown by Xing Xigui's crew; Lieutenant General Zhang Defu, deputy commander of the Chengdu Military Region, and others boarded the second helicopter, flown by Guo Fengren's crew; and Air Force Lieutenant General Hou Shujun, deputy commander of the Chengdu Military Region and commander of the military region air force, and others boarded the third helicopter, flown by Hu Dianyuan's crew. The first two helicopters took off southward one after the other; the second helicopter struck a mountain while making a 180-degree right turn, and all 13 people on board were killed.