The air force has grounded all its F-5 jets as it awaits an investigation into a recent plane crash in northeastern Taiwan, an air force commander said yesterday.
A twin-seater F-5F, along with an RF-5E reconnaissance plane, crashed into the mountains near Dongao (東澳) in Yilan County late on Tuesday. Body parts from the three pilots aboard the aircraft were discovered early yesterday.
The military is still investigating the cause of the accident, and all F-5 fighters had been grounded as a safety precaution, said Huang Jong-chyi (黃仲奇), a commander with the air force’s maintenance command.
Taiwan started deploying the US-built F-5F jets in 1974, but the aircraft were later relegated to training and intelligence gathering missions after the air force acquired new fighter jets, such as F-16s and Mirage 2000-5s, in the 1990s.
According to military sources, F-5Fs perform well in low-altitude dogfights.
The planes were often used to simulate enemy aircraft in training drills, but they are now mostly used on training missions.
At its height, Taiwan had a fleet of 66 F-5Fs, but aside from depletion through accidents, others have been taken out of service, leaving 32 currently in service.
Because of the planes’ advanced age, the military has been working to maintain its available F-5 fighters. Their current availability rate is 58 percent, 3 percentage points more than the ministerial standard, Huang said.
It was the sixth flight mishap involving an F-5F fighter in seven years, according to military figures. Seven pilots have been killed in those accidents.
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