The Ministry of National Defense (MND) said yesterday that it would revoke the flying privileges of an F-16 pilot that came within 3km of a light airplane during a recent exercise in Chiayi County.
The pilot would lose his privileges for three months, the MND said.
The incident, which took place on the afternoon of April 21, saw the air force fighter rapidly ascend to an altitude of almost 6km shortly after takeoff, coming within close proximity of an eight-person utility aircraft operated by a cargo company that was cruising at that altitude.
An initial investigation by the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) found that the utility plane had flown according to its flight plan while the F-16 had exceeded the altitude cap for military jets.
Minister of National Defense Kao Hua-chu (高華柱), who was in the legislature on Thursday to tell legislators that the government would continue to push for the procurement of 66 new F-16 C/D fighters from the US, refused to comment on the incident.
A statement released by the MND denied media reports that the pilot, reportedly an Air Force major general, had been trying to “look cool” while showing off and that the two planes were involved in a “near miss.”
The Ministry said that after calling a flight safety meeting, it found that the most likely reason for the incident was that the pilot misheard commands from the flight tower instructing him to keep the plane at its current altitude.
According to the CAA, the F-16 came within 122m in altitude, and 3.1km in from the front of the plane during its initial ascent.
An F-16 flying at Mach 1 can cover that distance in around nine seconds.
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