A South Korean Air Force fighter jet crashed during a training exercise in Alaska, military officials confirmed on June 11, in an incident that has renewed concerns over aviation safety within South Korea’s armed forces.
The KF-16 jet, a domestically manufactured version of the American F-16, was participating in Red Flag-Alaska, a multinational air combat drill hosted by the United States Pacific Air Forces. According to the South Korean Air Force, the aircraft was taking off from Eielson Air Force Base when an emergency forced both pilots to eject.
The two pilots survived and were transported to a nearby hospital, the Air Force said in a statement to reporters. Their conditions were not immediately disclosed.
Preliminary reports suggest the malfunction occurred just after the aircraft’s landing gear lifted off the runway. The jet, a two-seat model, was preparing for a scheduled sortie at the time of the incident.
Red Flag-Alaska is a recurring joint exercise involving combat aircraft and personnel from multiple allied nations. This year’s drill includes 11 aircraft and about 100 service members from South Korea, including KF-16 fighter jets and KC-330 aerial refueling tankers. The main phase of the exercise is scheduled to begin on June 16, following several days of local acclimation flights. The crash occurred during one of those initial training missions.
“Takeoff and landing are when fighter jets are most vulnerable to accidents,” a South Korean military official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. “That the pilots survived speaks to the strength of their training.”
The incident marks the tenth recorded crash of a KF-16 since the aircraft was introduced in South Korea in the 1990s under license from Lockheed Martin. It also brings the total number of South Korean military aircraft incidents this year to five, including two previous KF-16-related accidents in March and April.