Air Force unable to confirm if F-16 pilot ejected before aircraft disappeared

Taipei, Jan. 7 (CNA) The Air Force said Wednesday that the pilot of a missing F-16V fighter jet had indicated he would eject from the aircraft before it disappeared from radar, but could not confirm whether the ejection was successful.

During a nighttime training session on Tuesday, Air Force Captain Hsin Po-yi (辛柏毅) became separated from the rest of the formation at 7:27 p.m. after the jets entered cloud cover, Air Force Inspector General Chiang Yi-cheng (江義誠) told a news conference in Hualien County, citing the audio recordings retrieved from the lead aircraft.

After reporting that his altitude was continuing to drop, Hsin indicated at 7:28 p.m. that he would eject from the aircraft, tail number 6700, eight seconds before the jet's radar signal disappeared, Chiang said.

● Rescue operations launched after F-16V crashes off Hualien (update)

The aircraft's last recorded location was over waters about 36 nautical miles (66.6 kilometers) south of the Air Force's Hualien Air Base, he added.

The Air Force has not been able to confirm whether Hsin successfully ejected.

"So far, we have not received any signal from a survival equipment beacon, and therefore do not yet have conclusive evidence to confirm whether Captain Hsin successfully completed the ejection procedure," Chiang said.