The F-16 pilot, Hsin Po-yi, is believed to have ejected from the aircraft around 10 nautical miles off the coast. Search and rescue efforts are, at the time of writing, understood to still be in progress.
The incident occurred at 19:29 local time (11:29 UTC) on Jan. 6, 2026, when the Republic of China Air Force (RoCAF) F-16V (serial 6700) disappeared from radar screens off the coast of Hualien County. Official statements say the aircraft was taking part in routine training at the time, having taken off from Hualien Air Base just over an hour prior.
Search and rescue (SAR) forces, including C-130 and UH-60 Black Hawk aircraft and Coast Guard vessels, were immediately activated. Nearby civilian vessels also responded to calls for assistance. No update on the progress of the SAR effort has yet been received.
Lai Ching-te, currently serving as President of the Republic of China – also known as Taiwan – wrote on social media, saying he had “instructed the Ministry of National Defense and relevant units to prioritize the safety of personnel and to conduct a full-scale search and rescue operation”. He added that the “Air Force Response Center has launched a joint search and rescue operation and is actively searching the waters off Hualien.”
Airframe 6700 was delivered to the RoCAF as an F-16A. It underwent an upgrade program alongside the rest of the fleet beginning in 2017 (with all airframes upgraded by February 2024) bringing it up to Block 72 standard, and it is now designated an F-16V. Full operating capability (FOC) for the F-16V variant was declared in 2021. New build Block 70 F-16s have been ordered by the RoCAF, and the first complete airframe was revealed at Lockheed Martin’s Greenville, South Carolina plant in March 2025.
150 F-16s were ordered by the RoCAF in 1993, and all deliveries were then completed by 2001. The foreign military sales program, known as Peace Fenghuang, or Peace Phoenix, drew significant protest from the People’s Republic of China (PRC), who considered it a ‘betrayal’ of prior U.S. commitments and policy. The United States has not officially maintained diplomatic relations with the Republic of China since 1979, when diplomatic relations with the PRC were opened. Despite this, the U.S. remains the Republic of China’s largest trading partner and its most important strategic ally.
Flashpoint
With increasingly bold operations by the military forces of the PRC around the island of Taiwan, over which the PRC claims sovereignty, the F-16s and other aircraft of the RoCAF have frequently been in the news spotlight. In October 2024, we reported on an encounter between RoCAF and PRC fighter aircraft while the latter operated from the aircraft carrier Liaoning during an exercise.
The PRC launched more drills in the final days of 2025, which it called “Justice Mission 2025”. The exercise included a significant force of naval vessels from both the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) and the China Coast Guard, which took part in live fire missions. Aircraft launched from land and from ships practiced airborne assault techniques, undoubtedly focused on the potential mission of an invasion of Taiwan – around which the exercise areas circled.
Over the past 48 hours, China surrounded Taiwan and executed large-scale live-fire military exercises featuring simulated decapitation strikes and the seizure of key ports.
“It is a noose-style blockade. The operational scope is no longer limited to symbolic, isolated shows of… pic.twitter.com/6PznH0BhUc
— Ian Ellis (@ianellisjones) December 30, 2025
The RoCAF are frequently called upon to monitor and deter PRC activity near Taiwan’s maritime borders, and maintains a high training tempo in order to sustain this and prepare for any situation that might arise.
Update 19:40 UTC
The search and rescue operation is still ongoing, and is being hampered by poor weather. Ocean swells of up to 3 metres and high winds are hampering the search assets, and cold temperatures will threaten the pilot’s chances of survival.
UPDATE: Search and rescue operations continue to recover the pilot of an F-16.
Taiwan’s Coast Guard says 3m tall waves and severe gale force winds are adding to the complexity of the mission. https://t.co/Ri6IftQrUi pic.twitter.com/OU9PSHChAC
— Jaime Ocon 歐海美 (@JaimeOcon1) January 6, 2026
Update 04:45 UTC
Unfortunately, search and rescue efforts continue and the pilot remains missing. New information from official sources indicates that his ejection can now not be completely confirmed.
Recording from the F-16’s flight computer shows that the aircraft sounded an alarm, “EJECT, EJECT, EJECT.” However, the military cannot confirm whether the pilot actually ejected, as they can’t find the locator on the ejection seat. @TaiwanMonitor
— Jaime Ocon 歐海美 (@JaimeOcon1) January 7, 2026
Taiwan’s entire fleet of F-16s has been grounded pending further investigations into the cause of this incident.
This article concerns an ongoing story, and will be updated as and when new information becomes available.
