RoCAF F-16 missing

A Republic of China Air Force (RoCAF, Taiwan Air Force) F-16A Fighting Falcon went missing over waters off eastern Taiwan on Tuesday evening 17 November 2020. Search and Recovery operation is ongoing in which at least one Black Hawk and a Taiwanese Coast Guard vessel are involved.

Two minutes after take-off from Hualien air base, the F-16A with serial 6672 disappeared from the radar screens at 18:07 hrs LT nine nautical miles northeast of Hualien air base.

The F-16A was assigned to the 5th Tactical Fighter Wing (5th TFW),  26th Tactical Fighter Group (26th TFG) based at Hualien and was piloted by Colonel Chiang Cheng-chih according to the Ministry of Defence (MoD).

This is the second crash within the RoCAF in a few weeks time. On 29 October 2020, a F-5E Tiger II crashed off the coast of Taitung county, killing its pilot.

Photo (just illustrative): Jim Walg (Scramble Magazine Archive)