Taiwan’s United Daily News has seen a draft investigation report into the accidental firing of a HF-3 supersonic anti-ship missile. Investigators concluded that a series of human errors lead to the tragedy that killed a fishing boat captain.
The Chin Chiang patrol vessel was loaded with live missiles and to enable drills to be carried out, a simulator box was supposed to be installed between the missile control and launch tube. However, only two of the four missiles were installed with the simulators.
Petty Officer 2nd Class Kao Chia-chun had selected salvo fire of two missiles and one of those missiles was not connected to a simulator. Thus it fired off when the trigger was activated.
Kao’s supervisor also left him alone in the ship’s combat information center to study for an upcoming promotion exam.