Brake failure sends Brave Eagle trainer off runway; Air Force grounds all 65 aircraft
No injuries were reported among the trainee and instructor aboard the aircraft. The Air Force initially attributed the incident to mechanical failure and will assess when to resume training after special inspections are completed.
A Brave Eagle advanced jet trainer operated by the Air Force apparently veered off the runway after a serious brake-system failure during a training mission at Gangshan Air Base in Kaohsiung on the 10th. The Air Force subsequently ordered all 65 Brave Eagle trainers temporarily grounded for special inspections to assess the safety of the fleet.
According to a Central News Agency report on the 11th, neither the trainee nor the instructor aboard the aircraft was injured. Air Force Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Lee Ching-jan told the Legislative Yuan that a preliminary investigation had determined the incident was caused by mechanical failure.
Lee said the Brave Eagle fleet had recorded nine brake-related incidents over the past three years. Only the latest incident involved a serious brake failure, he said, while safety mechanisms functioned normally in the other eight cases, allowing the aircraft to stop safely on the runway.
After receiving a recommendation from Aerospace Industrial Development Corp. (AIDC), the Air Force decided to ground all 65 Brave Eagle trainers for special inspections. Military sources said flight training would resume only after the inspections confirm that the aircraft have no technical problems.
The Brave Eagle is an advanced jet trainer developed domestically and is used mainly to train pilots. It is also a key component of the Air Force's flight training system. The fleetwide grounding could affect the progress of related training, although the impact will depend on the inspection results and the Air Force's assessment.
People First Party Legislator Wang An-hsiang said the Brave Eagle had previously been linked to brake and maintenance issues. He said the Air Force should further examine whether those problems posed a flight-safety risk and called on the military to clarify the issues and propose improvements.
The Air Force has not yet announced how long the fleetwide inspections will take or a specific date for flights to resume. The investigation into the incident and the results of the fleet inspections will be key points to watch. See the detailed Central News Agency report.