Taipei [Taiwan], June 2 (ANI): An Air Force pilot was killed after a training jet crashed in Taiwan's Kaohsiung, according to the island's military.

Lieutenant Hsu Ta-chun from the Air Force Academy class of 2021 took off in his AT-3 trainer with the aircraft registration number AR32, tail number 852, at 8:03 am on Monday, Taiwan News reported citing UDN.

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Hsu, who was born in 1999, was embarking on his second solo flight when his aircraft disappeared from radar at 8:08 am, as per the media outlet.

According to the Kaohsiung city fire bureau, at 8:09 am it received a report of a plane crash at Tianchuo 1st Road in Gangshan district.

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As per the preliminary investigation, 5 AT-3 trainers conducted exercises near Tainan City's Xigang District. When they returned, only four returned safely, and they soon realized one of the pilots was missing.

The Air Force launched a search and rescue mission, but it was soon called off once the crash scene was discovered by Kaohsiung firefighters.

In March, Taiwan's National Security Bureau (NSB) has confirmed that a Chinese military aircraft crashed into the South China Sea earlier that month.

NSB Director-General Chen Ming-tong on March 10 confirmed that a People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) plane had crashed into the South China Sea on March 1, according to Taiwan News.

Earlier there were reports that a Chinese military patrol plane had crashed off the coast of Vietnam.

However, China never acknowledged the incident, but as per the Taiwanese media there was a sudden drop off in Y-8 flights through Taiwan's air defense identification zone (ADIZ), with none reported from March 2 to March 7.

Taiwan Society for Strategic Studies researcher Chang Ching on March 7 decried media report as "nonsense," asserting that China's military is more open than in the past and that if a crash had occurred, it would not have covered it up, Taiwan News reported. (ANI)

(The above story is verified and authored by ANI staff, ANI is South Asia's leading multimedia news agency with over 100 bureaus in India, South Asia and across the globe. ANI brings the latest news on Politics and Current Affairs in India & around the World, Sports, Health, Fitness, Entertainment, & News. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)