Taiwan training jets resume flights after crash

Taiwan’s air force said Wednesday it has resumed flights of locally made Brave Eagle training jets, which were grounded for safety checks last month after one of them crashed.

The jet went down after taking off from Chih Hang Air Base in southern Taitung county on February 15, with the pilot ejecting safely.

The crash was blamed on “dual engine failure”, but efforts continue to search for flight recorders to “clarify the cause”, the air force said in a statement.

The military and the Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation, which makes the aircraft, have conducted joint safety inspections of the fleet.

“After two weeks of intensive operations and strengthening the air (technical) crews’ studies and simulators, flight training resumed today,” the air force said.

Taiwan has a homegrown defence industry and has been upgrading its equipment, but it still relies heavily on US arms sales to bolster its security capabilities against a potential Chinese attack.

China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has threatened to use force to bring it under its control. The Brave Eagle had its first test flight in 2020.

Taiwan’s military is under pressure from China, which has in recent years ramped up incursions by fighter jets and warships around the island — actions that military experts dub as grey-zone tactics that serve to exhaust the island’s armed forces.