Safety must be priority in military exercises By Anderson Fu 傅安堂 After the crashes of an F-5E jet, which took off from Taitung Air Base in October last year, and an F-16, from Hualien Air Base in November last year, two F-5E jets from Taitung Air Base collided in midair last month, a tragedy that filled every Taiwanese with sorrow and regret. It might be difficult for Taiwan to procure foreign military aircraft, but the lives of our brave pilots are priceless. In addition to temporarily grounding F-5s for two weeks for a checkup, the air force should upgrade its training equipment and review its safety protocols to avoid further crashes.