Two US F/A-18s landed at an air force base in Tainan yesterday after one of the planes encountered mechanical problems, the Ministry of National Defense said.
The pilots landed at Tainan Air Force Base at 1:19pm after requesting permission to land because of a mechanical glitch in one of the aircraft, the ministry said.
The Civil Aeronautics Administration also confirmed that it had received distress signals from the F/A-18s.
Photo copied by Wang Chun-chung, Taipei Times
Records from the Air Navigation and Weather Service (ANWS), which is responsible for guiding the landing and takeoffs of civilian and military aircraft, showed that a fighter jet had sent signal code “7700” at about 1pm, meaning that the aircraft had encountered an emergency.
As the jets were near airspace over southern Taiwan, the ANWS asked its Kaohsiung Aviation Facilities Station to help guide the aircraft to the Tainan base.
There was no immediate word on where the US fighter jets were coming from or where they were headed.
“We can confirm that two US F/A-18s were traveling together on a routine flight today when one of the aircraft experienced a mechanical problem that required an immediate precautionary landing,” American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) spokesman Mark Zimmer said in response to a Taipei Times inquiry.
“Both aircraft landed in Tainan. Both aircraft and their crew are safely on the ground. We appreciate Taiwanese authorities’ allowing the aircraft to land in Taiwan when this emergency occurred, and accommodating the aircraft while any repairs take place,” he said.
The AIT is still assessing the situation and deciding how to fix the problems, he told the Central News Agency.
The Chinese-language United Daily News reported that the jets had taken off from a US base in Okinawa, Japan, and were conducting a routine patrol above waters north of Taiwan.
A military official, who confirmed that jets from the Republic of China Air Force 443rd Tactical Fighter Wing assisted the fighters with their landing, said he expected the US to send a team to handle any needed repairs, because the air force does not have any F/A-18 aircraft and does not have the ability to repair or maintain the aircraft.
There also were rumors that an EA-6B Prowler electronic warfare aircraft was to land in Tainan along with the F-18s, but ministry spokesman Major General David Lo (羅紹和) denied this.
The paramount chief of a volcanic island in Vanuatu yesterday said that he was “very impressed” by a UN court’s declaration that countries must tackle climate change. Vanuatu spearheaded the legal case at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands, which on Wednesday ruled that countries have a duty to protect against the threat of a warming planet. “I’m very impressed,” George Bumseng, the top chief of the Pacific archipelago’s island of Ambrym, told reporters in the capital, Port Vila. “We have been waiting for this decision for a long time because we have been victims of this climate change for
Rainfall is expected to become more widespread and persistent across central and southern Taiwan over the next few days, with the effects of the weather patterns becoming most prominent between last night and tomorrow, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Independent meteorologist Daniel Wu (吳德榮) said that based on the latest forecast models of the combination of a low-pressure system and southwesterly winds, rainfall and flooding are expected to continue in central and southern Taiwan from today to Sunday. The CWA also warned of flash floods, thunder and lightning, and strong gusts in these areas, as well as landslides and fallen
MASSIVE LOSS: If the next recall votes also fail, it would signal that the administration of President William Lai would continue to face strong resistance within the legislature The results of recall votes yesterday dealt a blow to the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) efforts to overturn the opposition-controlled legislature, as all 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers survived the recall bids. Backed by President William Lai’s (賴清德) DPP, civic groups led the recall drive, seeking to remove 31 out of 39 KMT lawmakers from the 113-seat legislature, in which the KMT and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) together hold a majority with 62 seats, while the DPP holds 51 seats. The scale of the recall elections was unprecedented, with another seven KMT lawmakers facing similar votes on Aug. 23. For a
All 24 lawmakers of the main opposition Chinese Nationalists Party (KMT) on Saturday survived historical nationwide recall elections, ensuring that the KMT along with Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) lawmakers will maintain opposition control of the legislature. Recall votes against all 24 KMT lawmakers as well as Hsinchu Mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) and KMT legislative caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅崐萁) failed to pass, according to Central Election Commission (CEC) figures. In only six of the 24 recall votes did the ballots cast in favor of the recall even meet the threshold of 25 percent of eligible voters needed for the recall to pass,