The pilot, identified as Hsin Po-yi and holding the rank of captain, took off from Hualien Air Base at 6:17 PM on Tuesday (10:17 AM in Lisbon) for a routine training mission. He was forced to eject from the aircraft about an hour later, at 7:29 PM, approximately 18.5 kilometers from Fengbin Township, according to a military statement.
The Ministry of Defense immediately activated an emergency response center and mobilized naval, aerial, and ground resources for the search operations. Defense Minister Wellington Koo ordered the full mobilization of available resources and cooperation among different state agencies.
According to the Air Force, the pilot had accumulated 611 flight hours, 371 of which were on F-16s. The Coast Guard deployed nine vessels to the accident area, launched four drifting buoys to assist in the search, and contacted a merchant ship navigating about 10 nautical miles from the location to help with the operations.
Adverse weather conditions are making the search difficult: the region is under the influence of a cold continental air mass, with winds of force 6 to 7, gusts up to force 9, waves of up to three meters, and a sharp temperature drop by the end of the day, according to the Coast Guard.
Authorities also requested that the Ministry of Agriculture alert fishing boats operating in the area to assist in the search. The F-16s, manufactured in the United States, form the backbone of the Taiwan Air Force. In 2019, Taipei purchased an additional 66 units from the U.S. for about $8 billion (€6.8 billion), currently operating over a hundred aircraft of earlier versions.
The primary mission of the fighters is to intercept Chinese military aircraft entering the island’s air defense identification zone, an increasingly frequent occurrence.
Platform with Lusa
