The landing gear of an F-16 fighter jet accidentally retracted during a routine pre-flight inspection on Thursday, causing slight damage to the aircraft but no injuries to personnel, Taiwan’s Air Force Command Headquarters said Saturday.
The mishap occurred in a hangar in the Chiayi Air Base. As inspections are customary before takeoff, ground crew members checked up on one of the F-16 fighters. Soon after, the landing gear of the aircraft unexpectedly retracted, the command headquarters said.
Based on the preliminary conclusion drawn by an investigative taskforce, the incident was blamed on operational carelessness by crew members.
The air force said it was currently in the process of implementing more security measures and stricter personnel training to prevent future accidents.
The statement from the air force came after local Chinese-language news media Apple Daily broke the news of the blunder.
Apple Daily had reported that the F-16 went under a pre-flight check-up in response to 19 military aircraft from China entering Taiwan’s self-declared air defense identification zone on Thursday.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel