Remembering….

May 11, 2009 By: thenhbushman Category: Taiwan

Photos by MJ Klein (and others)

This time of year has me thinking about things from the past, both good and bad. First of all, Hui-chen and I just celebrated our second wedding anniversary. This is of course, a very good thing! We didn’t really do anything special. We were in Thailand and we decided to eat at one of our favorite restaurants. We both love Japanese food so we don’t need the excuse of a special occasion to go out for it!

Then of course, today, May 11 is the day that Taiwan Air Force jet 5371 crashed, 2 years ago. I can’t seem to let go of this one. I know why. It’s because the pilots were blamed for the accident, but in my photos you can see that the rudder is clearly jammed to one side. The pilots couldn’t control the aircraft very well with the jammed rudder, but still they managed to miss our neighborhood and crash just barely inside the wall of the military base off of Route 117 in Hukou. They were killed instantly. I just wish that someone with recognized credentials would examine the photographic evidence and exonerate the pilots if this is the case.

My favorite shot of 5371 because you can’t tell anything is wrong by looking at the photograph

Finally, May 11 is the day after my return back to the states from my first trip to Taiwan, in 2000. The photo at the top of this article was taken in Taiwan, at Fort Provincia where I’m examining one of the stone tablets. My first trip to Taiwan was 3 weeks long and I traveled from Taipei where I was staying, down through Taichung and into Tainan. I was determined to see more of Taiwan that most travelers do on their first visit. I instantly fell in love with Taiwan and it’s people.

Remembering 5371
Photos by MJ Klein I was exactly one year ago today that I took this famous photograph: I think it's safe for me to say that I do not ac ...
5371
That is the designation of the F5F that crashed today. I was on the roof of my home, shooting photographs. I took a series of photos of this v ...
5371 Comments
One thing that I wasn't prepared for is the overwhelming response from the blog readers. Of the comments that deal with my personal participation ...
PUBLIC STATEMENT ON THE 5371 ACCIDENT
My wife and I convey our deepest sympathies to the families and colleagues of the injured and killed in this tragic accident. It is our sincere h ...
The Final Seconds of 5371: Part I - 13 Seconds
May 11th changed my life. I saw something profound, something that initially thrilled me, and later greatly saddened me. Here is the story.... ...

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11 Responses to “ Remembering…. ”

# 1 Remembering…. Says:
May 11th, 2009 at 7:12 pm
[...] Original post by TheNHBushman.com [...]
# 2 Todd Says:
May 11th, 2009 at 8:36 pm
Congratulations on the anniversary MJ and Hui-chen!

Your 5371 series gives me chills every time I look through it. I hope the pilots are eventually exonerated.

Todds last blog post..Daily Photo – Lycaenidae in the Morning

thenhbushman reply on May 12th, 2009 9:06 am:

thank you, Todd.

i don’t hold any hope that the pilots will be exonerated…. the case was closed and no one is going back later to take a look.
# 3 Carrie Says:
May 11th, 2009 at 9:43 pm
Happy Anniversary to you both!

Carries last blog post..Book Review: Wanderlust and Lipstick: The Essential Guide for Women Traveling Solo

thenhbushman reply on May 12th, 2009 9:05 am:

thank you Carrie!
# 4 andre Says:
May 12th, 2009 at 10:10 pm
Happy Anniversary guys!

Mj, I truly hope you are able to do a photo exhibition and presentation someday on 5371.

andres last blog post..week 19, 2009

thenhbushman reply on May 13th, 2009 1:14 am:

Andre, that would be great, if i could do it! i wonder what kind of politics it would take? thanks Andre.
# 5 Brunty Says:
May 12th, 2009 at 11:15 pm
MJ, congratulations to you and Hui-Chen and also love the picture from 2000. You had some long hair going on there. Also have you still got that hat? A real bushman never throws away a hat.. You need a few wine corks hanging off it to keep the flies away.

MJ, did you ever send the pictures to overseas places to investigate the crash, maybe they could offer different views. I have no idea about planes. I don’t even know where the rudder is on one of those jets

Thanks for sharing mate.

Bruntys last blog post..Day 1 New Thai School Year, Surivived. Isaan Thailand.

thenhbushman reply on May 13th, 2009 1:13 am:

thanks Brunty. i’ve had some long hair going in several installments, but i think it’s going to be short from now on. that hat is long gone – it wore out and i had to replace it with the one i currently have.

Brunty, i wouldn’t know who to send the photos to. they are online and publicly viewable and downloadable from my Flickr account. no one has come forward to say that they would like to examine them though. the rudder is the vertical control surface and in every photo where the position of the rudder is able to be determined, it’s in the same position – even when other control surfaces are in positions that doesn’t make any sense with the rudder position. it sure seems like the rudder was jammed to me.

thanks Brunty.
# 6 Stefan Says:
May 15th, 2009 at 8:05 pm
Congrats on the anniversary!

thenhbushman reply on May 16th, 2009 10:41 am:

thank you Stefan!