Taiwan’s F-16s back in service after being grounded following crash

Taiwan’s F-16 fighter jets were back in action on Thursday morning, more than a week after the whole fleet was grounded for safety checks following the crash of a F-16V in waters off the island’s west coast on Jan. 11, killing its sole pilot.

 

The first mission after the lifting of the grounding order was conducted by four F-16Vs, including one piloted by Major General Wei Chao-lin (魏兆麟), based at southern Chiayi Air Base, home to the crashed jet that killed Captain Chen Yi (陳奕) last week.

 

The four jets took to the skies, after passing required safety inspections, to intercept Chinese warplanes that were detected entering Taiwan’s southwest air defense identification zone.

 

Chen’s jet, with the serial number 6650, disappeared from radar screens at 3:23 p.m. Jan. 11, about 30 minutes after it took off from the southern air base on a routine training mission with another aircraft.

 

The weather conditions and visibility at that time were good, according to the military.

 

The aircraft had just completed a series of simulated missile launches when it abruptly nosedived into the sea, according to accounts given by another jet pilot, a ground controller, and other eyewitnesses in Chiayi.

 

A team has since been formed to investigate the cause of the crash, and Taiwan’s F-16 fighter jet fleet was grounded for safety checks until Thursday.

 

Chen was pronounced dead after parts of his body were found by searchers last week.

 

The flight recorder of the crashed jet was found on Jan. 17, and has been sent to aviation experts, raising hopes that clues about the cause of the accident, which has confounded experts so far, could be found.

 

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel