Air Force changes pilot flight suit color in response to PLA incursions

Taipei, Sept. 12 (CNA) Taiwan's Air Force has said the color of flight suits worn by all warplane pilots during training missions has been changed from orange to green, in response to China's frequent military harassment and incursions around Taiwan.

The Air Force's comments came after one of its pilots, Captain Hsieh Pei-hsun (謝沛勳), who parachuted out of a crashing Mirage-2000 fighter jet over the waters off Hsinchu County while participating in a training operation on Tuesday night, was found to be wearing a green flight suit rather than the orange suit that Air Force pilots usually wear during training missions.

The discovery became one of the focal points at a Wednesday news conference detailing the Air Force's findings about the incident.

Air Force Chief Inspector Major General Yu Te-chung (虞德忠) said the decision to change the flight suit color for training missions was made due to prevalent PLA harassment and incursions around Taiwan.

Air Force pilots conducting training operations used to wear orange flight suits to help them be easily identifiable by rescuers in case of emergency. Pilots on combat preparation missions, however, wore green flight suits to help them not be detected by enemies after landing.

However, given daily harassment and incursions by PLA aircraft have become the norm, training operations for Taiwan's military pilots could switch to combat preparation missions at any time, Yu said.

Thus, he said, pilots of all types of Taiwanese fighter jets and bombers now wear green flight suits at all times, including during training missions, to help them evade capture by the PLA in the case of an emergency.

Shu Hsiao-huang (舒孝煌), an associate research fellow at the Institute for Defense and Security Research under the Ministry of National Defense, told CNA on Thursday that the change in flight suit color was to protect pilots in case they find themselves in enemy-controlled areas.

Now that the PLA has stepped up its "gray zone" activities, Taiwan may need to reassign Air Force pilots conducting training operations to assist in combat preparation missions, hence all pilots now wear green flight suits at all times, Shu explained.

The United States also adopts a similar practice for their pilots, who wear green, camouflage, or desert camouflage colored flight suits, Shu added.

Gray zone activities refer to actions that fall between traditional notions of war and peace. These activities typically involve ambiguous or nontraditional methods that aim to achieve strategic objectives without overtly crossing the threshold into open conflict.