An air force training aircraft has gone missing in the Mt. Makalot mountain range, at the border of Nantou, Hualien, and Kaohsiung. The Nantou County Fire Bureau stated that a Black Cat helicopter is currently conducting an aerial search, while firefighting and rescue personnel are on standby on the ground. Mt. Makalot is high and remote — hikers must trek for four days from the Dongpu trailhead in Xinyi Township to reach it.
The Nantou County Fire Bureau noted that once the exact location of the missing training aircraft is confirmed, ground rescue personnel can proceed with a mountain search. Considering the long distance involved, rescuers may also be transported to nearby mountainous areas before beginning their trek.
Mt. Makalot is located within Yushan National Park, with an elevation of 3,785 meters. It is considered a challenging route among mountaineers. The famous “Makalot Traverse” from the Dongpu trailhead to Yuli in Hualien takes about seven to eight days to complete and requires ample physical strength and experience to undertake.
If starting from the Dongpu trailhead and hiking along the Batongguan Historic Trail, hikers spend the first night at Guanguan. On the second day, they pass through the Batongguan Grassland and Mt. Batongguan, then stay overnight at either the Central Gold Mine Mountain Hut or Baiyang Mountain Hut. On the third day, they hike to Xiugu Ping, cross Mt. Syueguan, and stay at a mountain hut. They finally reach Mt. Makalot on the fourth day.
Therefore, if ground forces are to carry out the rescue, it may unfortunately be too slow.
(China Times)