Intermittent signals detected from black box of missing F-16 jet: Minister

Taipei, Jan. 12 (CNA) Taiwan's military has been detecting intermittent signals from the Flight Data Recorder (FDR) of an F-16V fighter jet that disappeared last week, but the search teams have not yet pinned down the location of the FDR, also known as the black box, Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) said Monday.

Koo gave the update on the sidelines of a legislative session, when asked about the ongoing search and rescue operations following the disappearance last Tuesday of the F-16V aircraft and its sole pilot, Air Force Captain Hsin Po-yi (辛柏毅).

Hsin took off in the single-seat fighter jet, tail number 6700, from Hualien Air Base in eastern Taiwan at 6:17 p.m. last Tuesday on a nighttime training mission, but he soon reported that the aircraft was losing altitude, according to the Air Force.

At 7:28 p.m., he reported that he was about to eject from the aircraft, and eight seconds later, the jet's signal disappeared from radar, the Air Force said, adding that there may have been some malfunction of the aircraft's main onboard computer.

The Air Force subsequently set up an emergency response center and launched a search and rescue operation but has not yet been able to find either Hsin or the aircraft.

On Monday, Koo told reporters the search and rescue operation to date involved 62 sorties of Navy vessels, 62 sorties of Coast Guard boats, and 16 sorties of drones.

In total, some 1,000 people have been involved in the search and rescue efforts off the east coast of Taiwan, according to the defense minister.

He said the military has detected some intermittent signals believed to be from the jet's black box but has not yet pinned down the location.

Due to the rough seas on Monday, the search vessels could not leave port in eastern Taiwan but will go out again when the conditions improve and will try to locate the black box, Koo said.