Chinese Fishermen Save 2 Taiwanese Pilots

http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/ap/ap_story.html/Intl/AP.V3813.AP-Taiwan-Jet-Cras.html

Chinese Fishermen Save 2 Taiwanese Pilots

By STEPHAN GRAUWELS
Associated Press Writer

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP)–Two Taiwanese air force pilots were rescued by fishermen from Taiwan’s archrival, China, after their fighter jet crashed into the sea on Saturday, the military said.

The plane–a locally made Indigenous Defense Fighter–was based in the southern town of Tainan and was on a routine training mission, the air force said.

Air traffic control lost contact with the aircraft around 12:50 p.m. when the jet was flying near the Penghu islands, halfway between Taiwan’s main island and China, the air force said.

The two pilots, Wang Pei-chiang and Tsai Kun-nan, said they parachuted out of the plane just before it crashed in Taiwanese waters.

“Two fishing trawlers approached us, and we then found out they were Chinese,” Wang said at a news conference. The Chinese fishermen picked them out of the water and handed them over to Taiwan’s coast guard, who moved them to a military hospital in Tainan.

“We’re very happy about the captains of the Chinese ships providing unconditional humanitarian assistance. We want to express our thanks to them,” said Huang Ching-hung, a spokesman for the Tainan air force base.

The IDF jets serve to protect Taiwan from China, which has not ruled out using force to retake the island. The two separated at the end of a civil war in 1949 and China still claims Taiwan as part of its territory.

The cause of the crash was being investigated, although the air force said it suspected a mechanical problem.

The pilots were unwilling to explain in detail what happened before the crash. “We had problems with handling the aircraft, so we decided to jump out,” Wang said.

The air force said it was grounding all its IDF jets while the investigation continued.

AP-NY-09-27-03 0650EDT

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