TAIPEI (Reuters -Taiwan’s Air Force suspended combat training on Tuesday for the F-16 Fleet after a fighter jet upgraded to its latest model crashed into the water in the latest accident.

After taking off from Chiayi, a southern Taiwan airbase, to train at a coastal firing range, the F-16V (the most advanced type in Taiwan’s fleet) went missing from radar screens, according to Taiwan’s defense ministry.

Tsai-Ing-wen, President of Taiwan issued directives to not spare any effort in search and rescue missions and “to further clarify what caused the accident”, said her spokesperson.

Rescue Command Centre of the Government stated that witnesses reported seeing the plane collide with the water and that helicopters and ships were looking for him.

Liu Huichien, Air Force Inspector General said that the plane had been recently upgraded to “V”, with new weapon systems and avionics.

He also said combat training has been suspended for F-16s.

A F-16 was reported missing from Taiwan’s Hualien Air Base on Taiwan’s East Coast in the latter half of 2020. It had been on routine training missions.

Two F-5E fighters that first saw service in Taiwan during the 1970s crashed into the ocean off Taiwan’s southeast coast. They apparently met in midair while on a training mission.

Although Taiwan’s air force has been well-trained, the country has struggled to stop Chinese military planes in recent years. However, the incidents have not been attributed to intercept activities.

China claims Taiwan as the democratic island. China routinely sends aircraft into Taiwan’s air defense zone. This is mostly around Taiwan’s Pratas Islands, but occasionally also in the airspace between Taiwanese and Philippine.