Taiwan has grounded its F-16 fighter jet fleet after an F-16V fighter jet and its pilot crashed and disappeared into the ocean off Taiwan’s eastern coast during a combat exercise on Tuesday afternoon.
The Taiwanese Air Force said that the F-16V Block 20 jet, with the serial number 6650, disappeared from radar screens at 3:23 p.m, which was about half an hour after take off. The aircraft was participating in a routine training mission over a coastal firing range from a Chiayi city base in southern Taiwan. The aircraft’s last known location had been 100 metres north of a floating target on the range.
Taiwan’s national Rescue Command Centre reported that eyewitnesses, including the pilot of another jet, saw the jet “crashing into the sea.” Air Force Major General Liu Hui-chien confirmed this news at a press briefing, saying that the F-16V, which is one of the island’s most advanced fighter jets, “rapidly fell into the sea at a large angle and there’s no sign that the pilot parachuted out.”
“The pilot was practising simulated air-to-ground blasting… When he proceeded to the part that required him to fire at a 20-degree angle, his plane rapidly slanted into the sea,” Liu explained. He added that Taiwan’s entire fleet of 140 F-16 fighter jets had been grounded until safety checks have been conducted.
As Lunar New Year comes near, our highly trained #pilots and #maintainers with 4th Tactical Fighter Wing, #ROCAF demonstrate how they stand ready for scrambling, keeping our skies and country safe with the upgraded #F16Vs. pic.twitter.com/drlFIALO3O
— 國防部 Ministry of National Defense, R.O.C. 🇹🇼 (@MoNDefense) January 5, 2022
Moreover, Liu added that the single-seat jet’s accumulated flying time was over 3,400 hours and that more than 400 hours were conducted after it was upgraded to the “V” version in November with new weapons systems and electronics. The jet’s latest safety check was carried out in late December, and according to the official, it had performed well over the past six months.
Following the incident, the Taiwanese coast guard and military’s air and sea assets had been deployed to continue searching for the pilot, 28-year-old captain Chen Yi, who joined the air force last year. Chen has almost 325 hours of accumulated flying time, with over 60 hours clocked flying the F-16 model.
President Tsai Ing-wen’s spokesperson stated that the leader had issued instructions “to spare no efforts in the search and rescue mission” and “to further clarify the cause of the accident.”
Although weather conditions were good when the incident took place with visibility up to 7 nautical miles, Liu said that investigators had not ruled out weather conditions, maintenance failure or human error as the cause of the crash.
Following an all-night search involving multiple helicopters, coastguard vessels and more than 60 officials, Taiwanese rescuers located the wreckage of the fuselage on Wednesday but said there were no signs of the pilot.
Taiwan’s air force has met with a series of fatal accidents in recent years as it upgrades its defence mechanisms to counter China’s rising aggression. In March last year, Taiwan grounded all military aircrafts after a pilot was killed and another went missing when their fighters collided mid-air. Prior to that, eight senior officials, including the chief of general staff, were killed in a helicopter crash in January 2020.
In addition to the F-16’s ongoing upgrade programme, Taiwan has also purchased 66 new F-16Vs from the United States, whose delivery is expected to start in 2023.