Taiwanese rescuers located on Wednesday January 12 the wreckage of an F-16V fighter plane that crashed at sea the day before, announced the national rescue center, less than two months after the inauguration of the first squadron formed devices using the most advanced technology on the island.
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A night of searches involving several helicopters, coastguard vessels and more than 60 senior officials failed to locate the pilot and only fuselage remains were located, rescuers said.
The plane disappeared from radar screens on Tuesday nearly half an hour after taking off from its base in the southwest of the island for a routine training flight.
Under pressure from Beijing
The Air Force explained that the aircraft pitched seaward and could not determine whether the 28-year-old pilot had ejected from the cockpit. The accident comes less than two months after Taiwan's commissioning of the first American-designed F-16V squadron in an effort to upgrade its air fleet, when tensions with China are at their highest . The rest of the fleet was grounded.
Beijing is claiming sovereignty over the democratic island of Taiwan and has vowed to take it back one day, by force if necessary.
Under the presidency of Xi Jinping, China has intensified its economic, diplomatic and military pressure on this territory.
The Taiwanese Air Force has experienced fatal accidents in recent years, under constant pressure from Beijing, which has stepped up incursions into the island's air defense identification zone (Adiz) since 2020.
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Last year, Taiwan recorded 969 Chinese warplane incursions into ADIZ, according to data compiled by AFP, more than double the 380 incursions the previous year.
Last March, Taiwan grounded all of its military aircraft after the mid-air collision of two fighter jets resulting in the death of one pilot and the disappearance of another, the third fatal accident in less than six months.