South Korea KF-16 Fighter Jet Crashes

A South Korean fighter jet crashed off the country's west coast during a training flight Tuesday, the Defense Ministry said. The pilot survived.

The Air Force captain, identified as Wu, ejected just before the crash and was rescued, according to the ministry.
It was the fourth time a KF-16 crashed in the country since 1997. KF-16s crashed in August and September 1997 and in February 2002.

The Air Force dispatched two helicopters _ an HH-60 and HH47 _ and the Navy sent five speedboats to search for the pilot and the wreckage.

``The fighter jet crashed into the West Sea at around 11 a.m. while flying near a shooting range in Poryong, South Chungchong Province. It took off at around 10:40 a.m.,'' a ministry official said.

The official said the ministry would conduct a thorough investigation on the cause of the crash.

In 2004, South Korea completed the production of 140 KF-16 fighter jets, one of its largest arms build-up projects. Each fighter plane costs $43 million to produce and more than $720,000 to maintain.

Under the $5.7 billion program launched in 1991, the state-run Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) built the fighter jets in partnership with U.S. manufacturer Lockheed Martin.

In 2002, Seoul launched another $4.6-billion project to purchase 40 F-15K fighter jets from U.S. aircraft maker Boeing.


Source : By Lee Jin-woo (Staff Reporter) - The Korea Times
Published: February 13, 2007 - http://search.hankooki.com

Photo: [RoKAF photo]




(22.02.2007)