One Air Force KF-16 Crashes in Gangwon Due to Engine Failure... Pilot Ejects Safely

Military "Confirming Whether There Are Civilian Casualties"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] The Air Force announced that at around 8:05 PM on the 20th, a KF-16 fighter jet belonging to the Air Force 19th Fighter Wing crashed.

According to the military, the fighter jet experienced an engine malfunction approximately 20 km west of Wonju, Gangwon Province, and the pilot safely ejected.

The military is currently checking for any civilian casualties. It has not yet been confirmed whether the crashed fighter jet was a single-seat KF-16C or a two-seat KF-16D.

The KF-16 is a series of F-16 fighter jets introduced through the KFP project, which assembles domestically produced parts to localize the F-16 fighter jet.

The first KF-16 crash occurred in August 1997, followed by another crash in September of the same year. Both accidents were attributed to corrosion in the fuel ducts.

In February 2002, one aircraft crashed due to engine turbine blade damage, and five years later, in February 2007, after a maintenance failure, another crash occurred in July of the same year due to pilot error during flight, resulting in two fatalities in the West Sea.

In March 2009, one aircraft crashed due to pilot error, and in February 2019, another crashed due to a parts failure.

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