Bloomberg News
Date: Oct. 28, 2020
By: Samson Ellis and Cindy Wang

(Bloomberg) — A Taiwanese fighter jet crashed and its pilot was killed while training over the Western Pacific, highlighting concerns about the island’s aging military fleet at a time of increased pressure from China’s air force.

Rescuers are searching for a Taiwanese F-5 jet after it plunged into the sea just a few hundred meters off the east coast of Taitung county during a training exercise Thursday morning, according to a Defense Ministry spokesman. The pilot, who had ejected and was rescued, later died despite hours of emergency treatment.

The incident fuels mounting worries about the reliability of the older aircraft in Taiwan’s aging military fleet at a time of near-daily Chinese incursions into the island’s air defense identification zone.

Taiwan has scrambled almost 3,000 jets this year in response to approaches by more than 1,700 Chinese aircraft, Defense Minister Yen De-fa told lawmakers earlier this month. Chinese jets have entered Taiwan’s ADIZ 19 days in a row this month, according to Defense Ministry data.
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