Flight recorders recovered after KT-1 midair collision

Defense

Published: 03 Apr. 2022, 16:50 Updated: 03 Apr. 2022, 17:17

Flight recorders recovered after KT-1 midair collision

Wreckage from one of the two KT-1 trainers downed in a mid-air collision at the crash site in Sacheon, South Gyeongsang, approximately 300 kilometers south of Seoul. [NEWS1]

Flight recorders from two KT-1 trainers downed in a midair collision in southern Korea on Friday were retrieved from the crash site by the Air Force on Saturday, raising hopes that the cause of the fatal accident will be determined soon.

The KT-1s collided in mid-air during a training exercise on Friday afternoon in Sacheon, South Gyeongsang, some 300 kilometers (186 miles) south of Seoul, killing four. Each aircraft carried a trainee pilot and a civilian flight instructor, and all were discovered dead after ejecting from the planes.

The KT-1 is a domestically-developed single-engine, two-seat basic training aircraft that has been in operation since 2000.

According to the Air Force, Friday’s accident was the first mid-air collision of two KT-1s, and the first such accident involving any pair of Air Force aircraft since two F-5E fighter jets collided near Pocheon, Gyeonggi, in November 2008.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, an Air Force official said that a flight recorder – commonly called a black box – from one of the two KT-1s was recovered Saturday morning from the crash site. The black box from the other aircraft had been retrieved earlier, according to the official.

Flight recorders on a plane record flight data and cockpit sounds. They are typically designed to withstand the extreme conditions of serious accidents to facilitate investigations.

Debris from the KT-1s in Friday’s accident crashed into a rice paddy in Sacheon after the planes collided in the air at around 1:37 p.m. during a training exercise, just minutes after takeoff from a nearby base, according to the Air Force.

The fuselages of the aircraft landed on a wooded hillside area approximately 6 kilometers from Sacheon Air Base, according to the authorities.

Photo of a KT-1 trainer jet in flight near Changnyeong, South Gyeongsang on Nov. 21, 2019. Developed under the supervision of the Agency for Defense Development (ADD) and manufactured by Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI), the KT-1 has been used to train Korean pilots since its introduction in 2000. [YONHAP]

The Air Force said each aircraft carried a trainee pilot, ranked first lieutenant, and a civilian flight instructor. All four ejected from the planes but were later found dead, the Air Force added.

Some 62 firefighters and emergency responders were dispatched to the crash site in attempt to rescue the pilots and to extinguish a fire that broke out on the rooftop of a church after debris from an aircraft fell on it. The fire was quickly extinguished.

Residents of the area said they heard a thunderous noise in the sky, followed by the sight of the aircraft falling towards the ground with their wings broken off.

Another witness saw three people descending towards the ground and noted that the parachute of one did not seem to deploy properly.

Friday’s crash is the second fatal accident involving Air Force aircraft this year.

On Jan. 11, an F-5E fighter jet that took off from Suwon Air Base crashed into a hill in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi, killing the pilot.

The spate of crashes has put pressure on the Air Force to address safety issues with its aircraft. An Air Force official who spoke to the JoongAng Ilbo on condition of anonymity said, “We will set up a flight accident countermeasure headquarters headed by the Air Force deputy chief of staff to investigate the cause of the accident.”

Developed under the supervision of the Agency for Defense Development (ADD) and manufactured by Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI), the KT-1 has been used to train Korean pilots since its introduction.

The Air Force currently operates more than 80 KT-1s, which have also been exported to Turkey, Indonesia and Peru.

BY MICHAEL LEE [lee.junhyuk@joongang.co.kr]