The pilot of an F-16 air force jet that went missing yesterday while taking part in the live-fire drills of the annual Han Kuang exercise has been confirmed dead, after rescuers found body parts and other items on Wufenshan (五分山) in New Taipei City.
The air force’s forensic science unit confirmed that the remains belonged to 31-year-old Major Wu Yen-ting (吳彥霆) of the 12th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, the Ministry of National Defense said in a statement last night.
Searchers had found blood-stained pieces of the pilot’s anti-G suit and other clothing, as well as body parts in trees at the crash site, it said.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
The confirmation of identification came just hours after officers from the 5th Tactical Composite Wing had held an evening press event at the Hualien Air Force Base.
Wu was flying an F-16 with the tail number 6648, which took off from the base at 1:09pm and radar contact was lost at 1:43pm over northern Taiwan, Air Force Command Headquarters had said earlier in the day.
Residents in New Taipei City and Keelung were quoted by local Chinese-language media as saying they heard a loud bang that appeared to come from the mountainous areas around New Taipei City’s Ruifang (瑞芳) and Nuannuan (暖暖) districts.
Photo courtesy of New Taipei City Fire Department
The National Airborne Service Corps and firefighters from Keelung, New Taipei City and Yilan County were deployed to help in the search and rescue efforts.
A hiker telephoned the New Taipei City Fire Department at 3:22pm to say he had found the possible wreckage of the jet, the department said.
At 4:18pm firefighters found what appeared to be the crash site on the Wufenshan hiking trail about 3km from the meteorological radar observatory, the department added.
Photo: Yu Tai-lang, Taipei Times
Firefighters found “a substantial quantity” of debris, including a yellow military drag parachute, many toppled trees, skid marks and a 100m long gash in the woods, it said.
About 6pm, rescuers discovered what they suspected to be human remains and pieces of personal equipment, including the pilot’s G-suit and insignia, which were sent for examination by forensic technicians, officers told the Hualien news conference, which was attended by Major General Hsieh Ming-te (謝明德), director of political warfare at the 6th Army Corps.
Military personnel had identified the parachute as a fighter jet’s drag chute from a photograph taken by the search team.
Photo: CNA
Minister of National Defense Yen De-fa (嚴德發) and Chief of General Staff Admiral Lee Hsi-ming (李喜明) had directed rescue efforts from the Joint Operations Command Center and the Air Force Operational Command Center in Taipei, respectively, the defense ministry said.
The search mission was suspended at 8 pm due to poor visibility, but is scheduled to resume early today to look for more parts of the wreckage.
The air force temporarily grounded all of its F-16s until further notice.
The Office of the Inspector-general of the ministry and the Air Force Command have been ordered to create a task force to investigate the cause of the crash and to enhance safety standards during aerial exercises, the ministry said.
Air Force Command Headquarters said Wu was a 2009 graduate of the Air Force Academy and had 1,039 hours of flight time, including 736 hours in F-16 jets.
Wu had survived a crash in 2013, when his fighter jet’s starter experienced a failure that resulted in loss of power during an interception training, sources said.
He had been able to eject from the aircraft and suffered light injuries, the sources said.
Wu was from Yilan County’s Dongshan Township (冬山).
He is survived by his wife, Lin Fang-ying (林芳瑩), who is also in the air force.
They met when they were stationed at Chiayi Airport and married in 2014.
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and Yen expressed their condolences and pledged compensation to Wu’s family.
Additional reporting by Yu Heng, Yu Chao-fu, Wang Chin-yi and CNA
The Ministry of the Interior (MOI) is to tighten rules for candidates running for public office, requiring them to declare that they do not hold a Chinese household registration or passport, and that they possess no other foreign citizenship. The requirement was set out in a draft amendment to the Enforcement Rules of the Public Officials Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法 ) released by the ministry on Thursday. Under the proposal, candidates would need to make the declaration when submitting their registration forms, which would be published in the official election bulletin. The move follows the removal of several elected officials who were
FOUR DESIGNATED AREAS: Notices were issued for live-fire exercises in waters south and northwest of Penghu, northeast of Keelung and west of Kaohsiung, they said The military is planning three major annual exercises across the army, navy and air force this month, with the navy’s “Hai Chiang” (海強, “Sea Strong”) drills running from today through Friday, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday. The Hai Chiang exercise, which is to take place in waters surrounding Taiwan, would feature P-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft and S-70C anti-submarine helicopters, the ministry said, adding that the drills aim to bolster the nation’s offshore defensive capabilities. China has intensified military and psychological pressure against Taiwan, repeatedly sending warplanes and vessels into areas near the nation’s air defense identification zone and across
FORCED LABOR: A US court listed three Taiwanese and nine firms based in Taiwan in its indictment, with eight of the companies registered at the same address Nine companies registered in Taiwan, as well as three Taiwanese, on Tuesday were named by the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) as Specially Designated Nationals (SDNs) as a result of a US federal court indictment. The indictment unsealed at the federal court in Brooklyn, New York, said that Chen Zhi (陳志), a dual Cambodian-British national, is being indicted for fraud conspiracy, money laundering and overseeing Prince Holding Group’s forced-labor scam camps in Cambodia. At its peak, the company allegedly made US$30 million per day, court documents showed. The US government has seized Chen’s noncustodial wallet, which contains
SENATE RECOMMENDATION: The National Defense Authorization Act encourages the US secretary of defense to invite Taiwan’s navy to participate in the exercises in Hawaii The US Senate on Thursday last week passed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2026, which strongly encourages the US secretary of defense to invite Taiwan’s naval forces to participate in the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise, as well as allocating military aid of US$1 billion for Taiwan. The bill, which authorizes appropriations for the military activities of the US Department of Defense, military construction and other purposes, passed with 77 votes in support and 20 against. While the NDAA authorizes about US$925 billion of defense spending, the Central News Agency yesterday reported that an aide of US
RSS