TAIPEI: Taiwan's air force said on Wednesday (Sep 11) 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