TAIPEI: A Taiwan Air Force Mirage fighter jet crashed into the sea off the island’s northwest coast on Tuesday night, prompting an immediate search and rescue operation for the pilot, who successfully ejected before the crash, the defence ministry and official Central News Agency said.
The defence ministry said that the French-built Mirage was engaged in nighttime training exercises when it experienced what is suspected to be a loss of power. The aircraft went down near Hsinchu, a city known for its significant air base.
The Central News Agency confirmed that the jet crashed into the sea but noted that the pilot managed to eject safely and was subsequently rescued. The search and rescue efforts are still ongoing to locate any additional debris.
Taiwan’s air force has faced a series of setbacks with its fleet in recent years. This incident follows a similar crash in 2022, which led to the temporary grounding of the Mirage fleet after a Mirage jet went down off Taiwan’s east coast.
Since Taiwan received its first Mirage 2000 jets in 1997, the island has lost at least seven of these aircraft in accidents despite several upgrades to the fleet.
