Pilot Recovering After Mirage-2000 Fighter Jet Crashes

TaiwanPlus News

Taiwan has grounded its Mirage-2000 fighter jet fleet after the crash of one of the planes Tuesday night after it lost power. The pilot is safe but the incident has sparked debate about the country's continued use of the aging aircraft.

Transcript

00:00First responders rushed to treat Air Force pilot Xie Peixun.

00:05Late on Tuesday, Xie was flying a Mirage 2000 fighter jet as part of a nighttime training

00:11exercise when the aircraft suffered a malfunction, forcing him to eject off Taiwan's northwest

00:16coast.

00:18President Lai Ching-de is visiting the hospital where the pilot is being treated, while the

00:22military tries to figure out what happened.

00:25Officials say it was most likely a power supply issue.

00:28The power was cut off around 8.35 p.m.

00:34The pilot was ejected off the aircraft, and the Ministry of National Defense ordered immediate

00:38resuscitation.

00:40While the pilot is safe and recovering, questions are now being raised about how, just 20 minutes

00:45after takeoff, the plane lost power.

00:48Many observers say the incident could be due to the condition and maintenance of the aircraft.

00:56Taiwan received 60 Mirage 2000 fighters from France in 1997.

01:01All of them operate out of Hsinchu Air Base to protect the country's northern airspace.

01:05But France no longer produces the plane, which means spare parts and fuel to fly the aircraft

01:11are particularly expensive.

01:13In comparison, Taiwan's other fighter jets, the U.S.-made F-16 and Taiwan's own IDF, cost

01:203,400 and 7,700 U.S. dollars per hour.

01:25But the Mirage cost more than 24,000 U.S. dollars in fuel per hour.

01:31But because of its quick takeoff ability, Taiwan still uses them to intercept Chinese

01:35planes flying close to Taiwan's borders.

01:56Tuesday's incident is the seventh Mirage Taiwan has lost in an accident, which means more

02:01than 10 percent of the original fleet is gone.

02:05Taiwan scrambles fighter jets on almost a daily basis to warn off Chinese military aircraft

02:10that intentionally fly close to trigger a response.

02:15Many observers say that although these accidents can't be directly connected to China's rise

02:19in aggression, the situation does put strain on Taiwan's resources.

02:24The fact is that because the Air Force is called upon to do so many of these intercept

02:29missions, and because there is this threat coming from China, so the pilots have to train

02:33that much more, that much more aggressively, that much more realistically, in essence,

02:37you're just creating the perfect set of conditions that's just going to make these accidents

02:41happen on a higher level of frequency.

02:43Earlier this year, Taiwan said it would spend more than 320 million U.S. dollars to continue

02:49maintaining its remaining Mirage fighter jets.

02:52But after Tuesday's incident, the military might need to reconsider whether it's worth

02:56ditching the aircraft and instead invest in more modern aircraft, ensuring that their

03:01pilots can continue carrying out their missions without worrying about their safety.

03:05Chris Ma and Jaime Ocon for Taiwan Plus.

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