-
A Taiwanese F-16 fighter jet and its pilot went missing off the island’s northeast coast on Tuesday.
-
Taiwan’s Air Force grounded its F-16 fleet and suspended training missions in response.
-
Search and rescue operations are ongoing. At this time, it is not clear if the pilot was fired.
Taiwan’s air force grounded its F-16 fleet and suspended training missions on the jet after one of the planes and the pilot went missing earlier this week.
The search continues for the pilot and the aircraft, which officials believe went down after an “anomaly” during the flight, but rough seas off the island have made efforts difficult.
On Tuesday night local time, an American-made F-16 fighter jet assigned to the Fifth Tactical Air Wing of the Taiwan Air Force operating out of Hualien Air Base went missing in the waters off the island’s northeast coast. The Air Force said the fighter was separated from a group during a night training session after the jets entered cloud.
LF-16 suddenly descended rapidly. Its altitude was only 1,700 feet when radar contact was lost. Taiwan’s Ministry of Defense identified the missing pilot as Captain Hsin Po-yi. Officials are still not sure if Hsin successfully ejected from the plane, although he had indicated he was going to get out seconds before the plane disappeared. It is not clear if it is.
In the days since the accident, a search and rescue mission has been underway in the waters off Hualien County. Multiple aircraft and ships were involved in the mission, but high waves and strong winds were complicating the search for the jet and the Hsin.
Air Force officials told reporters during a press conference on Wednesday that there appeared to be a malfunction in the main computer on board the F-16 in which the plane’s flight path was no longer visible.
Now, Taiwanese air force officials have grounded Taiwan’s entire F-16 fleet for inspections, and training missions have been temporarily suspended. Taiwan currently has about 140 F-16s, the older A/B models, which it has upgraded in recent years. It is expected to receive a batch of the newest F-16V or Viper jets in the coming years to add to its fleet.
LF-16 is made by the American defense giant Lockheed Martin. Although it has been flying for over 50 years, it still represents a very capable fourth generation jet. The newest operator of the aircraft is Ukraine, which received a limited number from NATO partner nations.
This crash involving the Taiwanese military follows a similar incident that occurred in January 2022, when a Taiwanese F-16 went down off the west coast of the island while taking part in training exercises. At that time, the F-16 went missing after taking off from Chiayi Air Base in southern Taiwan. In response, Taiwan suspended its combat training for the navy.
It is not uncommon to see fleets grounded after accidents, especially if the cause is unclear. The US military has done this regularly.
Taiwan’s Air Force has been strained in recent years by a constant scramble to track Chinese military aircraft, which regularly fly in the country’s air defense identification zone. Taipei’s smaller air force experienced higher operating times that exhausted pilots, aircraft, and resources and stressed maintenance. More recently, Taiwan held rapid response exercises in response to China’s massive exercises nearby.
Read the original article on Business Insider