F-35 Emergency Landing... Pilot 'Safe', Aircraft 'Damaged'

Various fighter jets, including the F-35A, are on display at 'Seoul ADEX 2021' held at Seoul Airport in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province on the 19th.
Seongnam=Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] A stealth fighter jet F-35A made an emergency landing due to a malfunction during a training flight. The pilot was unharmed, but the extent of the aircraft damage is under investigation.

According to the Air Force on the 4th, at around 12:51 PM that day, an F-35A experienced an avionics system malfunction during training, causing the landing gear not to deploy, and performed a belly landing on the runway of a base in Seosan, Chungnam. A belly landing is a method where the aircraft's fuselage is directly placed on the ground when the landing gear fails to operate.

The Air Force plans to investigate the exact cause. It is known that all F-35A operations will be suspended temporarily until the investigation results are released.

The F-35A is an advanced fighter jet that integrates information from all sensors installed on the aircraft to provide the pilot with optimal information. It is reported that nearly 40 units have been introduced so far. It is equipped with stealth capabilities, electronic warfare functions, and an integrated avionics system. Its maximum speed is Mach 1.6, and its combat radius reaches 1,093 km. The price per unit is 119 billion won.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.