Air Force punishes captain for photographing aircraft assignment list

Taipei, Aug. 11 (CNA) Taiwan's Air Force said Monday that a captain has been punished for taking photos of military information with his camera phone and sharing them with others.

The Air Force Command Headquarters said the officer, identified only by his surname Lin (林), serves in its Special Aircraft unit, which operates the presidential aircraft and other planes used to transport senior government and military officials.

Lin was found to have violated rules prohibiting the use of camera phones on military bases, and to have photographed non-confidential military information and passed it to non-military personnel, in contravention of the Armed Forces Disciplinary Punishment Act, the Air Force said in a statement.

Local media outlet RWNews reported Sunday that Lin had photographed a daily assignment sheet listing flight missions for the presidential aircraft and other official planes, and sent the images to a private LINE chat group.

The report said Lin received an 18-day "restriction," the lightest penalty for a commissioned officer under Article 19 of the Act, which requires the officer to perform public service on off-days.

The Air Force confirmed the punishment but declined to specify its nature, saying only that it was decided at an evaluation meeting in May and was "appropriate" given that the information was not classified.

The Special Aircraft unit operates Taiwan's presidential aircraft -- a modified Boeing 737-800 codenamed Air Force 3701 -- along with 14 Fokker 50 turboprops and Beechcraft 1900 twin-engine turboprops, which are used to transport the president, senior officials and military leaders.