The Air Force yesterday confirmed that a jet that went missing on Monday had crashed, killing at least one of the pilots.
Meanwhile, late last night, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said an anti-submarine aircraft had crashed, killing one and injuring two and leaving two missing.
“Some wreckage and parts of a human body have been found” off Penghu in the Taiwan Strait, an air force spokesman told reporters, speaking of the first crash.
Other debris from the Indigenous Defense Fighter (IDF) aircraft, including a safety jacket, a flight helmet, a seat and a piece of the aircraft’s fuselage, were recovered from waters near Maoyu, an uninhabited isle of the Penghu island group, on Monday.
But the spokesman said the search for the second pilot on board the twin-seater IDF would continue.
Air Force Commanding General Peng Sheng-chu (彭勝竹) rushed to Cingcyuan Gang Airbase on Monday afternoon after the plane went missing to console the families of the two pilots, the military said, adding that Peng assured family members that the military would make every possible effort to find the men.
“We’ll never give up so long as there is a glimmer of hope,” Peng was quoted as saying.
The airbase had set up a special project control center responsible for the search and rescue mission, the statement said, adding that naval and coast guard ships and aerial rescue forces had been mobilized.
The two pilots were identified as Air Force Captain Ku Chih-pin (古智賓), 29, and Air Force Captain Chen Chien-ting (陳建廷), 31.
The IDF disappeared from radar screens while on a training mission on Monday morning.
The jet took off from Taichung airport at 9:15am and disappeared 30 minutes later near Huayu island, Air Force authorities said.
The Air Force is still investigating the cause of the crash.
Meanwhile, Air Force authorities said in a statement that its fleet of IDFs would undergo special inspections following the crash.
Taichung airport authorities said they expected the inspections to be completed as soon as possible.
IDFs, developed by Taiwan in the 1980s with assistance from the US, together with US-built F-16s and French-made Mirage 2000-5s, form the mainstay of the nation’s Air Force fleet.
Monday’s accident was the fifth mishap to befall an IDF fighter since the model was introduced in 1988.
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