TAIPEI (TVBS News) — A military insider revealed on Sunday (Feb. 16) that the pilot reported no foreign object damage (FOD) or internal object damage (IOD) to the engines following a military aircraft crash a day earlier.
The report came after a T-BE-5 Brave Eagle trainer jet, numbered 1130, crashed into the sea shortly after taking off from Taichung Chihhang Air Base (志航基地) on Saturday morning.
Major Lin Wei (林瑋), the pilot, successfully ejected and survived the incident. Despite the dual-engine design of the Brave Eagle, an internal military source noted the improbability of simultaneous engine failure, as the pilot reported no apparent foreign object ingestion.
The pilot stated that shortly after takeoff, a generator warning light illuminated, engine speeds dropped rapidly, and thrust was lost, prompting the ejection due to insufficient altitude for engine restart.
The Brave Eagle employs two F124 engines, a non-afterburning version of the TFE1042 used in the Indigenous Defense Fighter (經國號戰機), produced by the International Turbine Engine Company (ITEC), a joint venture between Honeywell and AIDC (漢翔).
Further investigations will aim to clarify the circumstances behind the incident.
