Over the course of yesterday, the Taiwan Air Force announced that it had lost one of its F-16V fighters during a scheduled nighttime training mission over waters near Hualien County. Following the incident, the service decided to ground its fleet in order to conduct a thorough assessment of the potential causes and to examine whether other aircraft might present similar technical issues. According to local media reports, the pilot, Hsin Po-Yi, is believed to have successfully ejected in accordance with established procedures, and search and rescue operations are currently underway to locate him.
Providing further details, the Taiwan Air Force held a press conference in which it reported that the flight took place under light rain conditions, with estimated visibility of around 9 km. It was also noted that the aircraft’s recordings indicated repeated ejection warnings once the failures were detected. However, rescue efforts are being hampered by the fact that no signal is being received from the locator beacon installed in the pilot’s seat, leaving deployed teams with only an estimated search area of his possible location. A total of 11 vessels and 13 aircraft have been assigned to the operation.
When examining the potential causes, the service indicated that the hypothesis of pilot fatigue resulting from training activities has been ruled out, given that the pilot had recently taken New Year leave and that the mission had been scheduled in advance, meaning it was not an emergency deployment. It was also reported that the F-16 (identification number 6700) had undergone all routine maintenance work and that no significant technical failures had been recorded since its delivery.
With this context in mind, causes cited by local media point to two main possibilities: a potential engine explosion and a failure in the aircraft’s computer system. The latter is reportedly the primary focus of the Air Force, which stated that several malfunctions were detected that deprived the pilot of critical information such as altitude, ultimately leading to the accident. This was indicated by Colonel Chou Ming-ching in response to an online query raised during a press conference, a post that suggested a trend toward technical failures within the fleet of F-16 fighters modernized to the Block 70 standard under the Peace Phoenix Rising program.
Along these lines, Taiwan Air Force Inspector General Chiang Yi-cheng stated that discussions are underway with the United States to improve the collision avoidance warning system and to provide relevant information that could help prevent similar incidents in the future, considering that F-16 Block 70 aircraft are also in service with the U.S. Air Force. Quoting some of his remarks: “We will urge the United States to complete the work on the systems as soon as possible. We hope the work will progress as scheduled, or even ahead of schedule, so that we can receive the Auto-GCAS and related equipment by the end of the year.”
Finally, it should be noted that not only the F-16V fighter fleet will be grounded, but also all of its pilots. According to the service, they will undergo an extensive additional simulator training program, focusing on response protocols for potential technical failures and spatial disorientation, including nighttime operations under the conditions recorded on the day of the accident. Another issue being evaluated by Taipei, following the example of its U.S. counterparts, is the procurement of new military-grade watches equipped with altimeters and GPS, in order to provide its personnel with a last-resort means of orientation during flight.
Images used for illustrative purposes
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