Taiwan’s new domestically developed advanced trainer crashes onto the sea

One of Taiwan’s newly developed AT-5 Brave Eagle advanced trainer aircraft crashed onto the sea during a training flight off Taitung City, on the island’s southeastern coast, on February 15, 2025. The two-seater aircraft was being flown by a single pilot, who managed to eject safely and was rescued unharmed. 

The crash was reportedly caused by a dual engine failure, which has prompted the grounding of all jets of this type in Taiwanese service. The aircraft involved in the accident had logged only 138 hours of flight prior to the crash. 

The AT-5 Brave Eagle is a newly developed aircraft type designed domestically in Taiwan by the Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation (AIDC) to replace the ageing AIDC AT-3 and Northrop F-5 trainers operated by the Republic of China Air Force (as the Taiwanese Air Force is officially known). 

This accident is setback for Taiwan’s domestic military build-up program at a time of heightened tensions with the People’s Republic of China, which claims sovereignty over Taiwan. 

The AT-5, which had its maiden flight in 2020, is based on the design of the F-CK-1 Ching-kuo, a combat aircraft developed by AIDC in the early 1990s. The post Taiwan’s new domestically developed advanced trainer crashes onto the sea appeared first on AeroTime.

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