According to officials, two South Korean air force jets collided in mid-flight during training and crashed near their base, killing all four persons on board. Both planes were KT-1 trainer aircraft, South Korea’s first indigenously produced jets, which took off one after the other for flying instruction from an air force base in the southern city of Sacheon, according to a statement from the air force.
According to the air force, the accident happened around five minutes after the first plane took off and roughly six kilometers (3.7 miles) south of the Sacheon base. Each of the two KT-1 planes was carrying two people: a training pilot and an instructor. According to the air force statement, all four were ejected from the planes but were subsequently found dead. The four casualties were identified as two first lieutenants and their instructors, both of whom were civilian air force workers.
The air force has announced the formation of a task group to examine the cause of the crash. The air force stated that there were no civilian deaths on the ground and that it was attempting to ascertain whether any civilian property was destroyed. A passenger car was damaged after being hit by wreckage, according to Lee Seong-gyeong, a Sacheon police officer, but officials were not immediately aware of any other noteworthy damage to civilian property. South Korean media shared images of the crashed truck, which was surrounded by dispersed mechanical pieces from the planes.
Three bodies had previously been discovered in a hilly location and an agricultural field near Sacheon, according to local emergency personnel. They said that the jets crashed into a mountain after a fire broke out there. According to local officials, three helicopters, 20 cars, and scores of emergency personnel were deployed to the alleged accident locations. According to reports, a number of military troops were also transported there.
Friday’s tragedy comes after an air force pilot died in January when his F-5E fighter jet crashed near Seoul, prompting calls for the military to quickly retire the jets, which had been in service since the 1970s. After an investigation, the air force concluded last month that the disaster was caused by a broken pipe. This allowed gasoline to flow into the engine, causing it to catch fire during takeoff. South Korea apparently employs roughly 80 F-5Es and intends to phase them out until 2030.
The KT-1 has been in service with the country’s air force since 2000. In November 2003, a training pilot was killed in another KT-1 collision at Sacheon. Air force jet crashes and other military-related mishaps occur on occasion in South Korea, which maintains a 560,000-member military to discourage future invasion from neighboring North Korea, which has around 1.3 million soldiers and one of the world’s largest armies. Around 28,500 American troops remain stationed in South Korea as a result of the 1950-53 Korean War, which ended with an armistice rather than a peace treaty.
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