Although the Taiwanese air force is well trained and well equipped, mainly with equipment manufactured in the United States, it is surpassed by China. Beijing sees the democratic island as its own territory and has never renounced the use of force to bring it under Chinese control.
The Taiwan Air Force said two Air Force F-5E fighters, each with a pilot on board, crashed into the sea off the island’s southeast coast after apparently colliding in the air during a training mission.
A pilot was found and taken by helicopter to the hospital, but later died, while the other was missing, Air Force Chief of Staff Huang Chih-wei told reporters, adding that the aircraft were in good working order. .
The Air Force has now suspended the F-5 fleet and suspended all training missions, he said.
F-5 fighters built in the United States entered service for the first time in Taiwan in the 1970s and, for the most part, were retired from frontline activities, although some are still used for training and reserve for the fleet main.
Another F-5 crashed in October, killing the pilot. In the following month, a much more modern F-16 crashed on the east coast of Taiwan, and the pilot of that aircraft also died.
In January last year, Taiwan’s top military officer was among eight people killed after a helicopter transporting them to visit soldiers crashed in a mountainous area near the capital Taipei.
The incidents have increased concern for both training and maintenance, but also the pressure the Air Force is under to respond to repeated Chinese flights near the island.