The air force this morning said that the pilot of a missing F-16V jet had indicated he would eject from the aircraft before it disappeared from radar, but could not confirm whether the ejection was successful.
During a nighttime training session yesterday, air force Captain Hsin Po-yi (辛柏毅) became separated from the rest of the formation at 7:27pm after the jets entered cloud cover, air force Inspector General Chiang Yi-cheng (江義誠) told a news conference in Hualien County, citing audio recordings retrieved from the lead aircraft.
Photo courtesy of the Coast Guard Administration
After reporting that his altitude was continuing to drop, Hsin indicated at 7:28pm that he would eject from the aircraft, tail No. 6700, eight seconds before the jet's radar signal disappeared, Chiang said.
The aircraft's last recorded location was over waters about 36 nautical miles (66.6km) south of the air force's Hualien Air Base, he added.
The air force has not been able to confirm whether Hsin successfully ejected.
"So far, we have not received any signal from a survival equipment beacon, and therefore do not yet have conclusive evidence to confirm whether Captain Hsin successfully completed the ejection procedure," Chiang said.
Regarding reports that the aircraft's Modular Mission Computer malfunctioned, the air force said that no abnormalities were found in the No. 6700 aircraft over the past six months of inspections.
The air force, navy and coast guard have dispatched vessels to conduct a search-and-rescue operation. A nearby cargo ship was also contacted to assist.
Hsin had not yet been found as of this morning.
Chiang said that the operation is ongoing and would not be limited by the 72-hour golden window for rescue.
Hsin's relatives are at the Hualien base and are being kept informed of rescue operations by military councilors, he said.
Additional reporting by Wang Ching-yi
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