A Republic of China Air Force Dassault Mirage 2000 fighter jet crashed at 8:35pm yesterday during a training exercise over waters off Hsinchu County, and pilot Hsieh Pei-hsun (謝沛勳), who successfully ejected, has been rescued, the Ministry of National Defense said.
Ocean Affairs Council Minister Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) confirmed through a post on her Facebook page at 10:47pm that Hsieh was conscious and has been transferred to a hospital for further observations.
Military sources said Hsieh was located and brought onboard a Coast Guard Administration vessel at around 10:39pm. His life signs were stable.
Photo: Taipei Times
The French-built Mirage was conducting nighttime exercises when it suffered a suspected loss of power and the pilot then bailed out, the ministry said.
President William Lai (賴清德) this morning visited the pilot at Tungs’ Taichung MetroHarbor Hospital, where he thanked the armed forces on behalf of the country.
Hsieh is doing well and is in stable condition, Lai said.
Wei Chih-wei (魏智偉), head of the hospital’s emergency room, said that Hsieh came in with contusions to his neck, back and hands due to his ejection into the sea, but no internal bleeding or obvious spinal injuries.
He is currently able to walk around and use the facilities on his own, Wei added.
Taiwan’s air force has suffered a series of crashes in recent years, including in 2022 when it grounded its Mirage fleet after one crashed into the sea off the east coast.
Taiwan received its first of 60 Mirage 2000 jets in 1997, although they have been upgraded several times since then.
At least seven have since been lost in accidents.
While Taiwan’s air force is well trained, it has been repeatedly scrambling to see off Chinese military aircraft flying near the nation in the past five years, although the accidents have not been linked in any way to these intercept activities.
The US-built F-16 jet is the mainstay of Taiwan’s air force.
Additional reporting by CNA and Reuters
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