Investigators are looking into why a military aircraft crashed over the weekend, sparking debate about the safety of Taiwan’s domestically made planes.
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00:00This is Taiwan's indigenous jet trainer, known as the AT-5, or the Brave Eagle.
00:09It's a domestically-made aircraft used to train pilots, and on Saturday, it suffered
00:17its first crash since entering service in 2021.
00:23Sources close to the Air Force say that a double-engine failure caused the aircraft
00:27to go down in the ocean, though the pilot is safe.
00:31The entire fleet of roughly 40 aircraft has been grounded for inspection.
00:35But observers in Taiwan are not too concerned about the safety of the Brave Eagle.
00:40Compared to other jets like the French-made Mirage 2000 or the U.S.-made F-16, made-in-Taiwan
00:45aircraft rarely face incidents.
00:48It is the safest fighter jet in its entire fleet, along with F-16s and the MiG-29s.
00:56You have the lowest incidence rates.
00:59So it's a very safe jet.
01:01So I wouldn't say that this would raise much concern."
01:09The Brave Eagle is part of Taiwan's efforts to reduce its reliance on other countries
01:13like the U.S. for weapons and defense equipment.
01:16More than half of the components for the jet are made in Taiwan, but when it comes
01:20to technical issues or complications, that's when Taiwan faces trouble, as it's hard
01:25for Taiwan to seek help from the international community because no one else flies these
01:29planes.
01:30The aircraft is often compared to the F-16, one of the most flown fighter jets in the
01:35world, with an established community to help troubleshoot problems.
01:39While troubleshooting may be more difficult, some experts say that this doesn't mean Taiwan
02:04should abandon its domestic industry.
02:06The Air Force is still waiting for delivery of a total of 66 jet trainers.
02:11Taiwan Plus was invited by the military last year to see how they are used, with advanced
02:16flight simulators similar to the Brave Eagle helping to improve training.
02:20In spite of the crash, analysts say that Taiwan's Air Force should think carefully
02:48about the investments it will have to make to ensure its domestically made aircraft have
02:52the parts, maintenance and support they need.
03:10While the investigation into Saturday's crash continues, Taiwan is alone in trying to find
03:15out what exactly happened.
03:17But as the country develops its own aircraft in pursuit of building up domestic defense
03:21industries, these lessons will have to be learned the hard way.
03:25John Su and Jaime O'Connor for Taiwan Plus.