Taiwanese air force pilot killed, another missing after fighter jet crash
- Two planes collided in mid-air and crashed into the sea during a training mission, the third such incident in six months
- One of the pilots was pulled unconscious from the water and later declared dead but search is still under way for the second
The two F-5E fighter jets each had one pilot on board and went missing from radar around 3pm, about 1.4 nautical miles from the fishing town of Mudan in Pingtung county, air force Chief of Staff Huang Chih-wei said.
They had taken off with two other F-5s from the Chihang airbase in Taitung, eastern Taiwan, at 2.30pm for a training mission, he said.
“We sent out five helicopters, two naval and six coastguard vessels as well as rescue units from Taitung and Pingtung for the search,” Huang told reporters.
He said the two single-seat fighter jets apparently collided in mid-air as they were about to return to the base.
“The pilots of the two other jets reported seeing plane debris in mid-air and signs that the pilots had been forced to eject from their aircraft,” Huang said.