Taiwanese Defence Minister Kao Hua-chu said a review was to be launched into the air force’s French-made Mirage fighter jets due to concerns about a possible engine problem.
During maintenance operations in May 2009, cracks were discovered in the engine rotors of Mirage jets, resulting in reduced flying hours.
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In the same month a Mirage fighter jet belonging to the French Air Force crashed in south-western France, possibly due to the same engine fault.
After this, the total flying hours of Taiwan’s Mirage jets were reduced to less than 5,000 in 2010 from the original target of more than 10,000 hours.
The flying hours of the Mirage pilots were also reduced from the standard 15 hours a month to ten.
Taiwan purchased 60 Mirage-2000 fighter jets from France in 1992, the last batch of which was delivered in 2001, according to focustaiwan.tw.
