On 7 August 1983, when Deputy Captain Sun Tianqin was carrying out a test flight of a fighter plane, he successfully lifted off and climbed to an altitude of 8,000 meters, as professional and skillful as he always did.
At that moment, tower data showed that Sun Tianqin's fighter was descending rapidly, from 8,000 meters to 1,500 meters. He then reported the plane to the tower and planned to parachute, but he turned off all the communication equipment on the plane.
As a result, the tower lost all the information of the plane, mistakenly thought that Sun Tianqin had encountered a serious accident, and began to activate the emergency plan. However, Sun Tianqin did not encounter an accident, he flew the plane at a very low altitude, successfully evaded radar monitoring, and flew in the direction of South Korea.
In the end, he successfully landed at a South Korean airport and defected to South Korea.
Sun's ultimate goal is not South Korea, but the Taiwan Strait on the other side. So, after getting in touch with South Korea and the mainland, he decided to go to Taiwan alone. In order to ensure its safety, the Taiwan side sent eight warplanes to escort it.
Eventually, Sun Tianqin succeeded in reaching Taiwan, and his carefully planned escape from Taiwan was also successful.
Sun Tianqin, a member of the mainland test flight team, has rich flying experience and has flown a variety of fighters. His talent was appreciated by the Taiwan side, and he was given a very high-standard reception and a reward of 7,000 taels, which was a very huge bonus at that time, which was converted into nearly 40 million yuan now, making Sun Tianqin rich overnight.
He then joined the Taiwan Air Force, where he was awarded the rank of colonel, and quickly became the focus of the news. Why, then, did he defect? What was the process like for him? And now?
All of this stems from his upbringing. In 1937, Sun Tianqin was born in Shaanxi Province to a family of intellectuals and was well educated. After that, he was admitted to Shaanxi Normal School, and because of his excellent physique, he was selected to become a pilot of the People's Liberation Army.
After graduating from the Senior Aviation School, Sun Tianqin was assigned to the Sixth Division of the Air Corps, and with his excellent flying skills, he quickly became an outstanding pilot, and was selected into the Air Force Test Flight Regiment and served as the deputy captain of the Second Brigade.
Originally, Sun Tianqin had unlimited development potential. However, a sudden blow planted the seeds of revenge in his heart. In the turbulent times, his father, as an old intellectual, was subjected to trumped-up accusations, and finally couldn't bear the grievances and torture, and chose to commit suicide.
Although the organization later rehabilitated his father, he was not grateful for it, but instead grew in hatred. In fact, having hatred in the heart is only a secondary reason.
The most important point is that he can't help the ** of money. At this time, in order to attract more people to Taiwan, Taiwan made a lot of hype, Sun Tianqin couldn't resist it, and began to plan to escape from Taiwan, and remembered the environment around Dalian Airport and quietly waited for the opportunity.
In the end, he decided on an escape plan to go to South Korea first and then to Taiwan. In May 1983, Sun Tianqin test-flew the J-7 fighter. Originally, he intended to carry out his escape plan, but due to the lack of fuel in the plane, he was forced to abandon the escape and look for new opportunities.
The opportunity arose again, and on August 7, Sun Tianqin saw that the test flight route and fuel volume were in line with his escape plan, and there were no other planes around him to train.
He immediately decided to fly to South Korea, which led to the initial scenario. This time, he managed to escape to the airport in South Korea and left Chinese mainland via Taiwan.
However, what is Sun Tianqin's life like after fleeing Taiwan? In fact, at first he had a good life and was much watched and admired. However, over time, his use value was squeezed dry and lost its meaning of existence.
In the Taiwan Air Force, Sun Tianqin was very unhappy, and he was not reused, and finally had to retire. He chose to go into business, but due to his lack of experience, he was not welcomed in Taiwan and had to go to Canada.
Sun Tianqin spent his old age in Taiwan, and although he missed his hometown and relatives on the mainland, he was never able to return because he had defected. He lived in depression until his death in Taiwan in 2017 at the age of 80.