Taiwan Jet Crash Forces Suspension of F-16 Training
The single-occupant F-16, operating under the Taiwan Air Force's Fifth Tactical Fighter Wing, departed Hualien Air Base at 6:17 p.m. local time Tuesday (1017 GMT) before vanishing from radar screens at 7:29 p.m. (1129 GMT) approximately 31 nautical miles (57 kilometers) south of its departure point while flying at around 1,700 feet, Defense Ministry sources confirmed.
The aviator, named as Capt. Hsin, transmitted reports of plummeting altitude and called out "eject, eject, eject" in his final radio transmission before the warplane disappeared from tracking systems.
Major Gen. Chiang Jiang Yi briefed the press Wednesday that rescue teams have yet to pick up any emergency locator beacon or SOS transmission, making it impossible to confirm whether the pilot managed to bail out successfully.
"As a precaution, all F-16 aircraft have temporarily suspended training missions," Chiang said, adding that comprehensive maintenance inspections are also underway.
Air Force Col. Chou Ming-ching revealed the F-16V fighter jet went missing due to a malfunction of the aircraft's main onboard computer, according to a news website.
"There are several levels of modular mission computer malfunctions. In this case, the aircraft's flight path was no longer displayed, so he was unable to obtain information on his attitude," Chou told reporters in Hualien County.
Recovery missions deploying fixed-wing aircraft, warships and rotary-wing craft have faced severe obstacles from turbulent ocean conditions, powerful gales and swells towering up to three meters.
Military officials announced the search operation will extend past the standard 72-hour timeframe while crash investigators work to determine what went wrong.
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