A minor fighter jet crash in Taiwan's outlying Penghu Islands is shedding light on the air force's lack of sufficient runways. Many are shared with civilian airports.
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00:00For the second time in a week, an indigenous defense fighter jet, or IDF,
00:04suffers a minor crash while attempting to land in the outlying islands of Penghu.
00:09The aircraft, the same one involved in both incidents,
00:12was carried off shortly after, with the pilot in good condition.
00:25Magong Airport in Penghu is a major operating base for Taiwan's military,
00:29with dozens of fighter jets stationed there and a group of Marines deployed on the main island.
00:34But because of the lack of space, the base's runway is also used for civilian travel.
00:40This latest crash, although cleared up quickly, affected more than two dozen flights.
00:44The issue is raising concern about how important infrastructure like runways
00:59are in the event of a war.
01:01If they're knocked out, Taiwan's fighter jets can't take off or land.
01:05Faced with the threat of invasion from China,
01:07Taiwan's air force would be critical to keeping the country safe from an enemy attack.
01:15Due to geography and complex terrain,
01:18Taiwan is finding it difficult to find more areas to build air bases
01:21and separate its military facilities from civilian use.
01:26But it could also prompt Taiwan's air force
01:28to train more on how to protect and maintain its limited airfields.
01:32But in Penghu, you need to build a second runway.
01:35It's not possible to build a second runway.
01:36But there are other ways.
01:37It's like a fast cleaners.
01:41When the roadway comes to a problem,
01:44the response is very fast.
01:46It's easy to take it away and clean it up.
01:50The roadway comes to clean it up.
01:53Practicing how to clear and repair runways
01:55was one element of last year's large-scale Hanguang military drills.
02:00But with back-to-back incidents affecting both military and civilian traffic,
02:04this may push the military to put more resources into protecting its runways.
02:09John Su and Jaime Okan for Taiwan Plus.