Taiwan F-16s return to the sky after no-flight order lifted

Taipei, Jan. 12 (CNA) Taiwan's F-16 jets were back in action on Monday following safety checks, one week after the fleet was grounded in response to an F-16V and its pilot going missing in waters off the east coast last Tuesday.

All Taiwan's F-16s passed inspections, with pilots and ground crews completing simulation and maintenance training, respectively, the Air Force said in a press release.

The Air Force also released photos of a group of four F-16Vs making preparations for takeoff, with one piloted by Maj. Gen. Hu Chung-hua (胡中華), chief of the Air Force's 5th Tactical Mixed Wing based in eastern Hualien County.

The nation's F-16s were grounded for inspections following the disappearance last Tuesday of a single-seat F-16V, tail number 6700, and its pilot, Air Force Capt. Hsin Po-yi (辛柏毅).

Hsin took off 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 could have been a 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.

Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) said early Monday that the MND has been detecting intermittent signals from the Flight Data Recorder (FDR) of the F-16V fighter jet that disappeared last week, but the search teams have not yet pinpointed the location of the FDR, also known as the black box.