A Dassault Mirage 2000 fighter jet crashed yesterday evening during a training mission over the seas north of Taiwan, the Air Force Command said.
At press time last night, a military search-and-rescue helicopter team was still looking for the pilot, Captain Ho Tzu-yu (何子雨) of the 499th Tactical Fighter Wing, the air force said.
The lost fighter, tail code 2040, took off from Hsinchu Air Base yesterday evening for a training mission, it said.
Photo: Chang Chung-i, Tapei Times
At 6:43pm, the jet was flying near Pengjia Islet, about 40 nautical miles (74km) from Keelung, when it vanished from radar and air controllers lost contact with the pilot.
Sikorsky S-70C helicopters were launched at 7:05pm to conduct search-and-rescue operations over the fighter’s last known location and the coast guard was informed of the missing plane.
Ho, 28, was inducted into the air force pilot school in 2011 and has a good military record, the air force said, adding that he has logged 419 flight hours in the Mirage 2000 out of 718 total flight hours.
The nation in 1989 reached an agreement with France to buy 60 Dassault Mirage 2000 fighters, which were delivered in 1998.
Before yesterday, four fighters had been lost in accidents, in October and December 1999, November 2001 and May 2013.
Three Mirage 2000 pilots perished in those accidents, while five survived.
In addition, a Mirage 2000 fighter tail, coded 2057, was set on fire after a suspected bird strike, but the pilot escaped alive and the aircraft was fully repaired.
The cause of the crash was unknown.
CONGRESSIONAL SUPPORT: A new committee would investigate a backlog of US weapons sales to Taiwan, said its chairman, US Representative Mike Gallagher The US should formally recognize Taiwan as an independent nation, and end its outdated and counterproductive “one China” policy, US Representative Tom Tiffany and 18 other US lawmakers wrote in a petition. “It is time to change the status quo and recognize the reality denied by the US government for decades: Taiwan is an independent nation,” Tiffany told the Epoch Times. “As our long-standing and valued partner, correctly acknowledging their independence from communist China is long overdue.” The resolution also asks the administration of US President Joe Biden to support Taiwan’s membership in international organizations and to negotiate a bilateral free-trade
The Pentagon is preparing for US House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy to visit Taiwan later this year, Punchbowl News reported on Monday, citing an official directly involved in the talks. US administration officials anticipate McCarthy would visit Taiwan some time in the spring, the report said. McCarthy had previously pledged to visit Taiwan if he became House speaker. He was elected speaker earlier this month. He had also said that he would have liked to join then-US House speaker Nancy Pelosi’s delegation when she visited Taiwan in August last year. Pelosi’s 19-hour visit to Taipei marked the first time in 25 years
Taiwan’s Chou Chieh-yu (周婕妤) was crowned the Kamui WPA Women’s World 9-Ball Champion after shutting out British pool titan Allison Fisher 9-0 in Atlantic City, New Jersey, the organizers said on Sunday. Following the championship win at Harrah’s Resort and Casino Atlantic City, Chou pocketed US$30,000 and became the first female competitor to hold both the 9-ball and 10-ball world titles since Briton Kelly Fisher in 2012. Chou, 36, won the Predator World Women’s 10-Ball Championship in Austria in September last year after clinching a silver medal at last year’s World Games in Birmingham, Alabama, in July. “I’m very excited and it’s like
JOINT OPERATIONS: Participating in the IMET program, which offers professional training and education to military personnel, would boost Taiwan’s defense capabilities The US government is appropriating funding to help Taiwan participate in its International Military Education & Training (IMET) program to enhance interoperability and capabilities for joint operations of the Taiwanse and US militaries. The funding for Taiwan’s participation in the program is mentioned in the Consolidated Appropriations Act 2023, a US$1.7 trillion spending bill funding the US federal government for the fiscal year 2023. It covers funding for military support for Ukraine, defense spending and regions affected by natural disasters. The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) told the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) that IMET is an important US