Askume North, Sept 10 – A Mirage fighter jet of the Taiwan Air Force crashed off the northwestern coast of Taiwan on Tuesday night, and search and rescue efforts are underway and the pilot ejected successfully, the National Defense Ministry and the official Central News Agency said.
The Ministry of National Defense said the French-made Mirage aircraft was conducting night exercises and was suspected of losing power, and the pilot later survived.
The plane crashed into the sea near Hsinchu on Taiwan’s northwest coast, home to a major air force base, the Central News Agency said.
The ministry said search and rescue operations were underway.
Taiwan’s Air Force has suffered a series of accidents in recent years, including the grounding of a Mirage fighter jet after it crashed into waters off the east coast in 2022 .
Taiwan received its first of 60 Mirage 2000 jets in 1997, although the aircraft have been upgraded several times since then. At least seven people have died in accidents so far.
Although Taiwan’s Air Force is well-trained, it has scrambled several times to intercept Chinese military aircraft flying near Taiwan in the past five years, although these incidents were not related in any way to these interceptions.
US-made F-16 fighter jets are the mainstay of Taiwan’s air force.
