The Taiwan Air Force Command held a press conference at 18:00 on January 11, stating that an F-16V single-seat fighter jet from Chiayi Base was piloted by flight officer Captain Chen Yi at 14:55 for routine training mission, and at 15:23, the light spot disappeared around the Shuixi shooting range. The Air Force has established a response center and launched a search and rescue operation.
Taiwan Air Force Command Inspector General Liu Huiqian said that the current situation known is that the plane fell into the sea quickly at a large angle, there is no personnel parachuting, but did not rule out any possibility, as long as there is a ray of hope, will definitely do their best to search and rescue.
Liu Huiqian also mentioned that before and after the incident, the base did not receive any radio calls from the wrecked fighter plane. It was concluded that the pilot Chen Yi pressed the call button of the call microphone, which Liu said was “not normal”.
According to Taiwan media Zhongshi News earlier on the 11th, a Taiwan Air Force F-16V number 6650 fighter driven by Captain Chen crashed during training at the Chiayi Shuixi Shooting Range on the afternoon of the 11th, the report said the fighter captain pilot did not parachute, the Taiwan Air Force then sent people to search and rescue, the Taiwan Coast Guard and the Air Force Headquarters also joined the search and rescue.
This is not the first time that a Taiwanese F-16 fighter jet has been involved in an accident. At 18:00 on November 17, 2021, Colonel Chiang Cheng-Chi crashed an F-16 from Hualien. The Central News Agency noted at the time that this was the second crash in just 20 days for the Taiwan Air Force.
In addition, the Central News Agency reported at the time that since Taiwan purchased 150 F-16s from the United States in 1992 and the first batch arrived in Taiwan in 1997, the F-16s have been in service with the Taiwan Air Force for more than 20 years, during which time a total of seven aircraft have crashed, resulting in the deaths of seven pilots.
The news sparked widespread ridicule in mainland China, with comments from netizens including:
The Taiwanese plane was ordered by President Tsai to crash into the sea at a wide-angle on purpose, with the aim of testing how strong the US F-16v is against impact. Of course, unfortunately, the test results have been proven and it did not pass. We’ll have to see how the Taiwanese military rectifies this in the future.
Taiwan boasts the F16V as an all-purpose fighter every day. Guess there will be a few more falls.
Taiwan independence rebel news: …. Radar signal disappeared and lost …. I’m surprised, isn’t it claiming that the F-16v is better than the F-35? How can it be detected by radar?
Friends from mainland China have gone viral on WeChat that the F-16V aircraft was already in a hangar at an airport in the southern part of the mainland, and a photo was taken while it was being towed.
You may not know, This thing is touted in Taiwan to defeat the J-20. Similar to the second-hand iPhone4 refurbishment boasted more powerful than the latest version, but the more powerful thing is that Taiwanese really believe it!
I thought it was driven by Governor Tsai herself.
At the same time, other mainland Chinese netizens commented:
We are all Chinese, and I hope the pilot will return safely.
Hope the pilot will be okay.
As long as the person is okay…
Did he parachute out? Has he been found?