The Chinese Communist Party’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) newspaper reported Monday (Oct. 5) that a fighter jet of a brigade of the Southern Theater Air Force was hit by a bird during takeoff and ascent, causing it to stop in the air.
The PLA report did not mention the type of fighter jet that was hit by the bird, or the time and place of takeoff; it only mentioned that it was “early autumn,” but Taiwan News reported that a file photo in the PLA news article showed a J-10 fighter jet.
Although the PLA does not mention when or where the fighter jet flew, the report states that the pilot, Wang Jiandong, is a pilot of a brigade of the Southern Theater Air Force. It is reported that some of the Chinese military bases that have been used to disrupt the flights are in the southern war zone. Some experts believe that this could be a staging area for Chinese Communist fighter planes to disrupt flights to Taiwan.
The People’s Liberation Army Daily on Monday dramatically detailed in a narrative that the fighter jet was struck by a bird and that pilot Wang Jiandong, in a life-and-death situation, evaded a residential area three times in 37 seconds before the jet crashed to the ground and the pilot successfully parachuted out without casualties.
The report said that before the incident, Wang Jiandong was in the air to carry out anti-aircraft combat training, but suddenly two shadows flashed head-on, with a bang, the fuselage suddenly shook, the engine worked abnormally, Wang Jiandong quickly reported to the commander of the fighter jet hit by a bird. Then the cockpit alarms continued to sound, and the plane’s thrust dropped sharply; the pilot pushed the throttle again, but the plane showed no sign of “lifting”.
The report said that the fighter jet was only 272.7 meters above the ground when it was hit by the bird, so it did not have the conditions for a forced landing in the field. The plane’s engine then stopped, and the plane lost all power. Fortunately, Wang saw a paddy field, and the plane was only 75.9 meters above the ground, so he brought the plane down within three seconds. Several villagers found him and carried him to the shade of a tree where he waited for help.
On September 4, it was reported online that Taiwan had shot down a PLA Su-35 fighter jet, which crashed in Guilin, Guangxi province, amidst recent extremely frequent flights of Chinese Communist military aircraft into Taiwan’s Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ). Taiwan’s Ministry of Defense and Air Force Command immediately dismissed the story as fake news and strongly condemned the malicious act; however, Beijing did not respond officially.
According to Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense, during the 18 days from September 16 to October 3, the Chinese Air Force conducted a total of 50 disturbance flights, including 10 days into Taiwan’s Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ).
The PLA has recently conducted frequent military drills in many seas, including live-fire drills against Taiwan, and has used propaganda videos to create the image of the Chinese Air Force as the “ace in the air” and “heroic and tenacious, daring to win and invincible. Taiwan’s English-language news reported on Monday that China’s self-proclaimed image of invincibility was dealt a blow in a fight in which its fighters encountered a “bird enemy.
Recent Comments