A Taiwanese F-16V fighter jet went missing off the coast of Hualien, with the pilot ejecting. Search and rescue efforts are currently underway.
According to Taiwan’s United Daily News, the Air Force Command Headquarters confirmed that an F-16V (blk20) single-seat fighter jet (tail number 6700) based at Hualien took off at 6:17 p.m. on the 6th piloted by Captain Xin for a routine training mission. At 7:29 p.m., it is suspected that the pilot ejected 10 nautical miles east of Fengbin Township, Hualien County. The Air Force immediately established a response center and initiated search and rescue operations.
The pilot of the crashed fighter jet is Captain Xin Baiyi, who was conducting a two-aircraft lead training and route training that night. Taiwan’s Executive Yuan Rescue Command Center has already dispatched the Seagull helicopter, on standby for nighttime search and rescue at Songshan Base, as well as the Pingtung C-130 transport aircraft for the rescue mission.