A captain surnamed Hsin (辛) is believed to have ejected from an F-16V (Block 20) single-seat jet about 10 nautical miles (18.5km) east of Fongbin Township (豐濱) in Hualien County during a routine training mission at 7:29pm yesterday, the air force said.
The air force said that it had established an emergency response center and launched a search-and-rescue operation.
The fighter took off from Hualien Air Base at 6:17pm for a routine training mission, the air force said.
Photo: Reuters
The Coast Guard Administration later said that it had dispatched vessels from its northern, eastern and southern fleets to the scene, and had also contacted nearby commercial cargo ships to assist in the search-and-rescue operation.
Vessels from the Sixth (Hualien) Coast Guard Corps were expected to be among the first to reach the site, sources said.
A Black Hawk helicopter from the National Airborne Service Corps had also been deployed to waters off Fongbin to conduct an aerial search, while rescue aircraft had arrived at the target area and a C-130 transport plane had dropped illumination flares to aid nighttime operations, an airborne service official said.
Ocean Affairs Council Minister Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) wrote on Facebook that joint air and sea rescue efforts involving the Ministry of National Defense, the coast guard and airborne rescue teams were under way.
A cargo ship about 6.3 nautical miles from the scene had also been contacted to assist in the operation, Kuan said.
Formosa Television reported that the aircraft’s light source had malfunctioned prior to the pilot ejecting.
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