An F-16V fighter plane of the Taiwan Air Force crashed into the sea on the evening of January 6th, and the pilot was lost contact. According to the latest news on March 17th from China Time News Network, the “Central News Agency”, and various Taiwan media outlets, after more than two months of search, the Taiwan Air Force yesterday (16th) located the “wreckage flight data recorder” (commonly known as the “black box”) of the crashed fighter plane in the signal positioning area and completed the salvage.
According to the report, according to information previously issued by the Taiwan Air Force, the Taiwan Air Force located the signals emitted by the “black box” and confirmed that the signals were located at a depth of about 2,500 meters in the water. The Taiwan Air Force Command issued a press release on noon on the 17th saying that after several days of underwater exploration, the “black box” was located on the 16th. It belonged to a F-16V fighter jet that had crashed. The salvage was completed and it was transported back. The Taiwan Air Force said that subsequent “black boxes” will be sent to the U.S. original plant for identification to clarify the cause of the fighter jet crash.
According to the China Times News Network, the Taiwan Air Force recovered the crashed fighter plane “Black Box” and a large number of aircraft wreckage on the 16th, but did not find the remains of the pilot Xin Baiyi.
According to previous reports by Taiwanese media, the F-16V fighter aircraft of the Taiwanese Air Force suffered a major accident on January 6th. The F-16V single-seater aircraft number 6700 at Hualian Base crashed into the sea. This was also the second fighter aircraft to crash after the Taiwanese military improved the F-16V performance. Regarding the cause of the crash, Taiwanese media speculated that it was related to pilots‘ night flight misdirection and equipment malfunctions on fighter aircraft. According to NOWnews, the U.S. government approved the sale of 150 F-16A/B fighters in 1992 and has been delivering them in succession since 1997. The first batch of fighters returned to service in 1998, and 11 have already crashed in 28 years.