TAIPEI, Sept 11 (Reuters) - Taiwan's air force said on

Wednesday it had grounded its fleet of French-made Mirage

fighter jets for maintenance checks after one crashed off the

island's northwest coast, though the pilot was rescued.

The Mirage was conducting nighttime exercises late on

Tuesday after taking off from the Hsinchu air base when it

suffered a loss of engine power and the pilot bailed out.

Rescuers later found him and took him to hospital.

The air force said the Mirage fleet has now been grounded

for checks, and that they would ensure sufficient coverage from

other aircraft to make up for those taken out of rotation.

The U.S.-built F-16 fighter jet is the mainstay of

Taiwan's air force. Taiwan received its first of 60 Mirage 2000

jets in 1997, though they have been upgraded several times since

then. At least seven have since been lost in accidents.

Taiwan's air force has suffered a series of crashes in

recent years, including in 2022 when it grounded its Mirage

fleet after one crashed into the sea off the east coast.

While Taiwan's air force is well trained, it has been

repeatedly scrambling to see off Chinese military aircraft

flying near the island in the past five years, though the

accidents have not been linked in any way to these intercept

activities.