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Military aircraft reported to have
crashed off Suhua
Staff Writer
A two-seat F-5F fighter number
5410 that crashed in the sea off the Penghu islands on July 15, 2009, is seen
flying over Taitung County in a photo taken prior to the accident.
Photo: Huang Ming-tang, Taipei Times
Witnesses last night said they saw what
appeared to be two air force aircraft crash into mountains near the 116km
section of the Suhua Highway on Taiwan’s east coast.
Following the report, the Ministry of Defense sent a search and rescue team to
the area.
“We were fishing at the seaside when suddenly airplanes flew over our heads, and
a moment later we heard a loud bang and the whole mountain was set on fire. The
explosion was very loud,” one witness said.
The witnesses said that while the planes looked like military aircraft, they
could not be sure.
The fire brigade dispatched fire engines to the area as soon as the incident was
reported.
Ministry of Defense spokesman Colonel David Lo (羅紹和) confirmed that an F-5F
fighter and an RF-5 reconnaissance plane had taken off from the air force base
in Hualien at 7:39pm for a nighttime training flight, but had disappeared from
radar screens at 7:52pm. Lo identified the pilot of the RF-5 as Captain Hsiao
Wen-min (蕭文民) and the crew of the F-5F as Lieutenant Colonel Chang Chien-kuo
(常建國) and Major Wang Hung-hsiang (王鴻祥).
At press time, a search and rescue team was at the scene, but there was no news
yet about the crew.
Taiwan’s aging F-5s are scheduled for retirement and will be replaced by
F-16C/Ds, if the US agrees to the sale.
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