An F-16 fighter jet, reportedly belonging to the Taiwanese air force, experienced what the Hawaii Department of Transportation called a “hard landing” at about 2:45 p.m. today on runway 4R at Daniel K. Inouye International Airport.
The pilot used the jet’s tail hook to slow down after the front landing gear failed, DOT officials said. However, the jet did not appear to suffer serious damage and there have been no reports of injuries, they said.
Taiwanese outlet TVBS News reported that it was a Republic of China Air Force F-16A en route back to Taiwan after training in Arizona.
Taiwanese military aircraft have been known to quietly use Hawaii as a transit point to fly to and from Luke Air Force Base in Arizona for training and aircraft upgrades.
Spokespersons from the U.S. Air Force’s 15th Wing and Pacific Air Forces said they could not offer additional details at this time.
DOT spokesman Jai Cunningham said that the only details DOT had on the F-16 was that it was a visiting aircraft from a unit outside of Hawaii.
A Hawaii National Guard spokesman said the F-16 was not one of its aircraft.
Cunningham said while there was no damage to the runway itself, 4R is closed until the military safely removes the aircraft and reopens the runway.
Runway 8L was already closed for planned construction activities, leaving Runway 8R as the only available landing runway for commercial jets.
“With the distance that the planes have to travel to get back to the gates, it could cause some delays,” said Cunningham. “Nothing major, but it could cause a little bit of delays because it’s a pretty good drive to get back from out there.”
Runway 4R will be closed until further notice.
This story has been updated to reflect Taiwanese media reports that the jet belongs to Taiwan’s air force. An earlier version of this story indicated that it was a U.S. jet.