TAIPEI: Taiwan grounded all military aircraft for training and exercises after a pilot was killed and another went missing on Monday when their fighter jets had a suspected mid-air collision.

The air force made the announcement after two single-seater F-5E aircraft disappeared from radar at around 3 pm (0700 GMT) some 2.6 kilometres (1.6 miles) off the coast of southern Pingtung county. They were among four F-5Es that took off about 30 minutes earlier for a routine training mission, and the incident occurred when they were changing formation at an altitude of some 14,000 feet, chief of staff Huang Chih-wei said. An initial probe showed a crash was the suspected cause and that “mechanical and weather factors” were not involved, he added. One of the pilots was found unconscious in the sea but could not be resuscitated and was pronounced dead at hospital.

It was the third fatal crash in less than six months Taiwan.