Three Control Yuan members yesterday applied to investigate the disappearance of a Mirage 2000 fighter jet during a regular training exercise on Nov. 7.
The application filed by Pao Tsung-ho (包宗和), Lee Yueh-der (李月德) and Fang Wan-fu (方萬富) said they will probe whether the jet’s disappearance was caused by mechanical or human error.
They are to examine factors such as the age of the jet, the price and supply of patented replacement parts by the French manufacturer, the plane’s maintenance history and the pilot’s training routine, it said.
The probe would also investigate the handling of the incident by government agencies and is to determine responsibility, it added.
The Mirage 2000, piloted by Captain Ho Tzu-yu (何子雨), took off at 6:09pm from Hsinchu Air Base, but lost contact with the control tower 34 minutes later, the air force said.
At the time of the disappearance, the aircraft was estimated to be about 60 nautical miles (111km) off Pengjia Islet north of Taiwan, the air force said.
The military and the navy dispatched various types of military aircraft and vessels to search for the pilot and the aircraft, which were from the Hsinchu-based 499th Tactical Fighter Wing, but have been unable to find them.
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