A T-5 Brave Eagle training aircraft of the Republic of China Air Force crashed during takeoff.

This was reported by the official website of the Republic of China Air Force.

The two-seat T-5 Brave Eagle aircraft with tail number “1130” of the Air Force flight training unit crashed into the sea north of the airport from which it took off.

According to the pilot, during takeoff, two Honeywell/ITEC F124-200TW engines failed at once, and he decided to eject.

At the time of takeoff, only the pilot, Major Lin, was on board. He ejected into the sea and was found by a rescue helicopter at 09:14 local time. He was confirmed to be in good health at 09:23.

The T-5 Brave Eagle (T-BE-5, b/n 1130, s/n 13-9032) was used for training and had a total flight time of 183 hours. It was to perform a training bombing mission.

The Republic of China Air Force and Ministry of Defense, together with Korea’s Hanwha Aerospace, are currently preparing to investigate the exact causes of the crash.

The Air Force Command has stated that the advanced Brave Eagle training aircraft had not yet officially entered service and had not joined the air force’s combat units.

The aircraft is currently being tested, and instructors are being trained on the new machines.

The production of this type of aircraft began in 2021, and both the production of new machines and training of personnel for their use in the Republic of China Air Force are underway.

The aircraft are expected to replace the Air Force’s F-5 two-seaters, which are used to maintain pilot qualifications and conduct in-depth training.

Earlier, Militarnyi reported that in 2021, the Air Force of the Republic of China (Taiwan) had received the first production T-5 Yongying jet trainer.