The air force has grounded all training jets after an aircraft crashed yesterday due to “dual engine failure,” with the pilot ejecting safely.
The domestically built AT-5 Yung Ying (勇鷹, “Brave Eagle”) advanced jet trainer went down at 8:40am during a training exercise after taking off from Chihhang Air Base in southern Taitung County, the air force said in a statement.
The sole occupant of the two-seater jet trainer, air force Major-in-Training Lin Wei (林瑋), ejected and parachuted to safety after both aircraft’s engines failed, it said.
Photo: Ann Wang, Reuters
The 34-year-old Lin displayed mild signs of hypothermia following his rescue and was under observation at Mackay Memorial Hospital’s Taitung branch, doctors said.
Lin’s jet had recorded 183 hours of flight time prior to yesterday, the air force said.
Lin graduated from the Air Force Academy and had clocked a total flight time of 1,184 hours before the crash.
The air force said the jet had “dual engine failure,” but a special task force would investigate “to clarify the cause and ensure training safety.”
Yesterday’s incident was the first time a Brave Eagle had an accident since the air force began receiving the planes from Aerospace Industrial Development Corp (AIDC, 漢翔航空) in 2021 to replace its aging AT-3 jet trainers.
AIDC has delivered 41 out of 66 Brave Eagles ordered by the air force. The remaining aircraft are scheduled to be delivered by the end of next year.
Yesterday’s crash could be a setback for air force plans to replace the aging AT-3 fleet before the end of next year, sources said.
The armed forces are mostly equipped by the US, but the government has made the development of an advanced homegrown defence industry a priority, especially as China steps up military modernization efforts and drills near Taiwan.
In February 2017, the Ministry of National Defense initiated the development of the Advanced Trainer Jet program. The aircraft received the name “Brave Eagle” in September 2019 when the first prototype rolled off the assembly line.
The first AT-5 flight was in June 2020 and AIDC delivered the first sample of the mass-production model in November 2021.
The AT-5 is Taiwan’s first domestically made since the F-CK-1 Ching-kuo Indigenous Defence Fighter, or IDF, rolled out more than three decades ago. The two jets look similar and have similar capabilities.
Despite AT-5’s external resemblance to the F-CK-1 air superiority fighter — a deliberate design choice to replicate the latter’s drag and angle of attack — 80 percent of the former’s components are different.
Significantly, the AT-5 uses a pair of AIDC/ITEC F124-200TW engines which feature lightweight composite materials, with 55 percent of parts sourced in Taiwan.
The AT-5 wings were modified to enable low-speed landing and stability at low airspeeds, desirable attributes for training.
The plane is designed to have a support function in times of war. It can be equipped with weapons, but that function remains in the testing phase.
GLOBAL ISSUE: If China annexes Taiwan, ‘it will not stop its expansion there, as it only becomes stronger and has more force to expand further,’ the president said China’s military and diplomatic expansion is not a sole issue for Taiwan, but one that risks world peace, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that Taiwan would stand with the alliance of democratic countries to preserve peace through deterrence. Lai made the remark in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times). “China is strategically pushing forward to change the international order,” Lai said, adding that China established the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank, launched the Belt and Road Initiative, and pushed for yuan internationalization, because it wants to replace the democratic rules-based international
ECONOMIC BOOST: Should the more than 23 million people eligible for the NT$10,000 handouts spend them the same way as in 2023, GDP could rise 0.5 percent, an official said Universal cash handouts of NT$10,000 (US$330) are to be disbursed late next month at the earliest — including to permanent residents and foreign residents married to Taiwanese — pending legislative approval, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. The Executive Yuan yesterday approved the Special Act for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience in Response to International Circumstances (因應國際情勢強化經濟社會及民生國安韌性特別條例). The NT$550 billion special budget includes NT$236 billion for the cash handouts, plus an additional NT$20 billion set aside as reserve funds, expected to be used to support industries. Handouts might begin one month after the bill is promulgated and would be completed within
The National Development Council (NDC) yesterday unveiled details of new regulations that ease restrictions on foreigners working or living in Taiwan, as part of a bid to attract skilled workers from abroad. The regulations, which could go into effect in the first quarter of next year, stem from amendments to the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及僱用法) passed by lawmakers on Aug. 29. Students categorized as “overseas compatriots” would be allowed to stay and work in Taiwan in the two years after their graduation without obtaining additional permits, doing away with the evaluation process that is currently required,
RELEASED: Ko emerged from a courthouse before about 700 supporters, describing his year in custody as a period of ‘suffering’ and vowed to ‘not surrender’ Former Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) was released on NT$70 million (US$2.29 million) bail yesterday, bringing an end to his year-long incommunicado detention as he awaits trial on corruption charges. Under the conditions set by the Taipei District Court on Friday, Ko must remain at a registered address, wear a GPS-enabled ankle monitor and is prohibited from leaving the country. He is also barred from contacting codefendants or witnesses. After Ko’s wife, Peggy Chen (陳佩琪), posted bail, Ko was transported from the Taipei Detention Center to the Taipei District Court at 12:20pm, where he was fitted with the tracking
RSS