Taiwanese F-16 fighter jet vanishes — RT

An F-16V fighter jet, the most advanced aircraft in the Taiwanese Air Force fleet, has gone missing, with witnesses claiming that they saw the aircraft crash into the sea. A search and rescue operation is ongoing.

The plane went missing from Air Force radars on Tuesday afternoon, shortly after taking off from Chiayi Air Base in the south of the island. The government’s Rescue Command Centre said eyewitnesses had told them they saw the plane crash into the sea.

President Tsai Ing-wen demanded that no efforts should be spared in the search and rescue operation and requested that officials work “to further clarify the cause of the accident,” her spokesman said.