An Air Force fighter jet crashed into a military complex at a base in northern Taiwan yesterday, killing its two crew members and two Singaporean military personnel.
Nine Singaporeans were also injured, two critically, when the two-seat F-5F Tiger fighter jet slammed into a building housing the Singaporean personnel, partially destroying the facility and engulfing it in flames.
The Air Force confirmed that the F-5F took off from its base in Taitung County at 9am to participate in training for the annual Han Kuang series of military exercises at a base near Hukou Township (
Three F-5s were involved in the exercise, but none of the pilots onboard the other aircraft witnessed the accident, because the jet that crashed was at the rear of the formation.
As the jet finished its final run and prepared to return to its base, it suddenly lost control and crashed. Several eyewitnesses said they saw the jet fly by before crashing.
The plane appeared to be heading toward factories and residential areas, but the pilots seemed to have attempted to avoid them and turned the aircraft toward a military complex nearby, eyewitnesses said.
The plane exploded into a ball of fire on impact, instantly killing the 34-year-old pilot, Major Wei Tsu-yuan (
Minister of National Defense Lee Jye (李傑) immediately grounded the Air Force's remaining 34 F-5s after the crash, but said that the Han Kuang exercises would continue.
cause unknown
"We need time to determine the cause of the crash," Lee said. "We have retrieved the aircraft's flight-data recorder and will examine it as soon as possible."
"Meanwhile, the military exercises will continue, although we have grounded our remaining F-5 series of fighters for further examinations," he said.
When the F-5F crashed into the military complex, it also killed two foreign military personnel and wounded nine on the ground.
All of the ground personnel belong to the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF). SAF personnel have been training in Taiwan under the "Starlight Program," a military cooperation agreement between Taiwan and Singapore.
Singapore has operated three military training camps in Taiwan since 1975: in Hengchun Township (恆春), Pingtung County; Douliu Township (斗六), Yunlin County; and Hukou Township in Hsinchu County.
Each year, Singapore would send approximately 15,000 SAF personnel to Taiwan for training. In the past few years, however, only about 7,000 SAF personnel have continued training here as Singapore has begun to focus on closer ties with China.
"Two wounded patients are in critical condition," said Dr. Chen Tim-mo (
"One of the patients has burns over 50 percent of his body," Chen said. "The other has burns over 40 percent. The patient with 50 percent burns is in a coma, while we induced sleep in the other, so he would not feel so much pain."
The Ministry of National Defense (MND) refused to release the names of the Singaporean military personnel, citing the confidential nature of the Starlight Program and the sensitive relationship between Taiwan and Singapore.
Ministry of National Defense Spokesman Rear Admiral Wu Chi-fang (
The Singaporean Ministry of Defense issued a brief statement yesterday confirming that two SAF personnel were dead, two were seriously injured and seven others were injured.
It said it would be investigating the incident.
Local firefighters only confirmed that "at least three heads and many body parts" were discovered at the crash site and sent to the hospital, but said that none of bodies were identifiable.
"We lost two pilots. Singaporean troops also lost two, while another two are in the hospital," Lee said.
Lawmakers were quick to interpret the crash through a political lens.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Hsueh Ling (
Saying that such a crash was a "terrible" loss of human life, Hsueh urged the MND to stop all exercises immediately.
Hsueh said "some soldiers" had complained to her before that the military insisted on conducting exercises despite the military's "outdated" equipment, saying that Lee should therefore assume responsibility.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lin Yu-fang (
"Accidents happen too often, and that has to do with the government's paying too little attention to the task of training pilots and to mechanical maintenance," Lin said.
Lin said that the DPP government should focus more on maintenance and less on pushing the legislature to buy expensive new weapons.
Additional reporting by Flora Wang,Shih Hsiu-chuan and Angelica Oung
A signaling system malfunction disrupted high-speed rail (HSR) services beginning at 8am today, with trains temporarily reduced to three northbound and three southbound trains per hour as authorities conduct inspections. The malfunction occurred on a section of track in Miaoli County during pre-operation checks early this morning, forcing northbound and southbound trains to use a single track, the HSR operator said. The regular schedule has been replaced with three hourly trains offering only nonreserved seating in each direction, stopping at every station, it said, adding that business class cars would still have reserved seating. Departures from terminal stations are scheduled at the top
DRONE CENTRAL: Taiwan aims to become Asia’s democratic hub for drones, with most exports focused on high-quality military-grade models, an official said Taiwan’s drone industry is expected to expand significantly by 2030, producing 100,000 units per month and exporting half of them, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Current drone production capacity is about 15,000 units per month, but the industry can quickly scale up as demand increases, Industrial Development Administration Director-General Chiou Chyou-huey (邱求慧) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s drone output grew 2.5-fold last year to NT$12.9 billion (US$408.3 million) under a government program to develop the uncrewed vehicle sector, he said. The Executive Yuan in October last year approved plans to invest NT$44.2 billion into domestic production of uncrewed aerial
Taiwan is still in the process of assessing the possibility of recruiting workers from Eswatini, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday, adding that its goal is to help Eswatini upgrade its vocational training centers. If there are plans to recruit workers from Eswatini, safeguarding national security, protecting public health and ensuring the employment rights of Taiwanese would be prerequisites, Department of West Asian and African Affairs Director-General Yen Chia-liang (顏嘉良) told a news conference. Key considerations would also include filling labor shortages in specific industries, and fostering bilateral professional and technical exchanges, he said. Yen was asked about the progress of labor
VERBOSE VESSELS: A CGA cutter and a China Coast Guard exchanged verbal barbs for more than a day in Taiwanese-controlled waters before the Chinese vessel left The Taiwanese and Chinese coast guards had a standoff near the strategically located Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) in the north of the South China Sea, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said yesterday. The two sides engaged in intense radio exchanges over sovereignty claims during the 33-hour standoff. China Coast Guard vessel 3501 eventually left the restricted waters, 26.6 nautical miles (49.2km) west of the Pratas Islands, at 5pm yesterday, the CGA said. Lying approximately between southern Taiwan and Hong Kong, the Taiwan-controlled Pratas are seen by some security experts as vulnerable to Chinese attack due to their distance — more than
RSS