While Taiwan’s air force is well-prepared and well-equipped, mostly with US-made equipment, it is hardened by China’s. Beijing considers the democratic island as its own territory and has never given up the use of force to bring it under Chinese control.
Taiwanese air forces say two F-5E air fighters, each with a pilot on board, crashed into the sea off the southeast coast of the island after apparently colliding in the air. during a training mission.
One pilot was found and transported to the hospital by helicopter, but later died while the other was missing, Air Force Chief of Staff Huang Chih-wei told reporters, adding that the aircraft was in good working order.
The air force has now grounded the F-5 fleet and suspended all training missions, he said.
US-built F-5 fighters first entered service in Taiwan in the 1970s and were largely withdrawn from front-line operations, although some are still used for training and as a reserve for the main fleet.
Another F-5 crashed in October, killing the pilot. The following month, a much more modern F-16 crashed off the east coast of Taiwan and the pilot of that aircraft died.
In January last year, a Taiwanese military official was killed among eight people after a helicopter carrying them crashed into a mountainous area near the capital, Taipei.
The incidents have raised concerns about both training and maintenance, as well as pressure from the air force to respond to repeated Chinese flights near the island.