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Taiwan fighter jet crashes at sea on training objective, pilot rescued

A Taiwan flying force Mirage fighter jet crashed off the island's northwest coast on Tuesday night and the pilot, who successfully ejected, was rescued and required to medical facility, the defence ministry and main Central News Agency said.

The defence ministry stated the French-built Mirage was performing nighttime workouts when it suffered a believed loss of power and the pilot then bailed out.

Rescuers found the pilot conscious a few hours later and he was taken by a coast guard vessel to a port and then hospital, the ministry added.

The Central News Company said the aircraft had actually crashed into the sea off Hsinchu on Taiwan's northwest coast, a city home to a major air base.

Taiwan's flying force has suffered a series of crashes in current years, consisting of in 2022 when it grounded its Mirage fleet after one crashed into the sea off the east coast.

Taiwan received its first of 60 Mirage 2000 jets in 1997, though they have been updated numerous times since then. At least seven have since been lost in accidents.

While Taiwan's flying force is well trained, it has been repeatedly rushing to see off Chinese military airplane flying near the island in the previous five years, though the mishaps have not been linked in any method to these obstruct activities.

The U.S.-built F-16 fighter jet is the mainstay of Taiwan's. air force.

(source: Reuters)