Forum: F-16 News

F-16 Crashes in West Sea

A KF-16 combat jet crashed during an air-to-ground firing exercise over the West Sea near Boryeong, South Chungcheong Province at around 11 a.m. on Tuesday morning. The pilot of the jet, an Air Force captain only identified Wu, apparently ejected just before the crash, but it was not immediately confirmed whether he survived. Rescue helicopters were dispatched to the crash site.

Source: <a href="http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200702/200702130040.html">chosun.com</a>

Tuesday 13th February 2007 11:00h
South Korean AF KF-16C 93-4053
KC-33 155th Fighter Squadron at Jungweon AB, South Korea During a training flight crashed into the West Sea near a shooting range in Boryeong, South Chungcheong Province Air Force Pilot Wu ejected ACES II

Poor maintenance caused fighter jet crash: Air Force

Seoul, March 5 (Yonhap News)
Posted on : Mar.5,2007

[...]

"After examining the engine of the fighter jet, we concluded the cause of the accident was a maintenance problem," said an investigative team consisting of 13 people from the Air Force and four from Pratt & Whitney, the producer of the engine.

Mechanics did not replace cover plates of the engine with new ones when they last repaired the plane in 2004, a breach of the Time Compliance Technical Orders (TCTO), a method used throughout the Air Force to implement aircraft hardware changes, the team said in a news conference.

Fragments from a broken cover plate damaged and stopped the engine during the flight, it said.

[...]

Source: http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_ ... 94503.html

KF-16 Crash Caused by Shoddy Repair Work
Updated Mar.6,2007 07:24 KST

Last month's crash of a fighter jet into the Yellow Sea during a training mission was caused by poor engine maintenance, the Air Force said Monday.
The KF-16 fighter jet crashed on Feb. 13 during shooting exercise near a firing range in Boryung-Si, South Chung-cheong Province.

According to the Air Force, four KF-16s have crashed since Korea began buying them from the U.S. in 1994, but this was the first due to poor maintenance. It was the first fighter crash due to engine problems in the last 20 years, an Air Force official said.

Each KF-16 costs around W42.5 billion, but because the crash was Korea's fault, Korea will not receive any compensation for it.

An Air Force investigative committee said on Monday that an analysis of the downed plane's engine showed that the accident happened because mechanics failed to replace a cover plate on the engine's turbine blades during a repair in 2004.

The Air Forces said it is now trying to learn why the cover plate was not replaced and that those responsible would be called before a disciplinary committee and censured.

The pilot of the jet, Captain Woo, ejected before the crash and was rescued.

Source: http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/ ... 60011.html

Poor Maintenance Caused Fighter Crash

03-05-2007 19:07
By Jung Sung-ki, Staff Reporter

Failed engine maintenance was the cause of a fighter jet¡¯s crash into waters off the country¡¯s west coast last month, the Air Force said Monday.

The Air Force said a cover plate of the KF-16¡¯s engine turbine blade fell apart during the training flight.

``After examining the engine of the fighter jet, we concluded the cause of the accident was a maintenance problem," Col. Kim Kyu-jin of the Air Force¡¯s public affairs officer said during a briefing. He said the investigative team consisted of 13 people from the Air Force and four from Pratt & Whitney, the producer of the engine.

Cover plates of the engine made by Pratt & Whitney were the subject of a replacement order in 2004 according to the U.S. Air Force¡¯s Time Compliance Technical Order (TCTO), but engineers failed to change the plates of the crashed plane, Kim said.

Fragments from a broken cover plate damaged and stopped the engine during the flight, he added, saying mechanics and their superiors concerned will be strictly punished regardless of their rank.

According to the TCTO, cover plates of 26 other KF-16s were replaced, Air Force officials said.

On Feb. 13, a KF-16 fighter jet crashed over the West Sea during an air-to-ground attack exercise. The pilot ejected just before the crash and was rescued by a fisherman.

It was the fourth accident involving the KF-16, the main fighter jet of the South Korean Air Force. South Korea acquired more than 130 of the U.S.-made planes since it first purchased them in the early 1990s.

A KF-16 costs $43 million to produce and more than $720,000 annually to maintain, officials said.

Source: http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/nation/ ... 411980.htm

Air Force chief resigns amid criticism over jet crash, golf outing

2007/03/21 14:06 KST

SEOUL, March 21 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's top Air Force officer has tendered his resignation to take responsibility for last month's fighter jet crash caused by poor maintenance, officials said Wednesday.

The plane [KF-16] went down off the country's west coast during a training flight on Feb. 13, but its pilot survived by ejecting.

The Air Force's discipline has been called into question after investigators found that the accident was attributable to poor maintenance. South Korea's latest F-15K fighter jet to crash was also discovered to have had its wing damaged last month when its rear wheels fell into a manhole at an Air Force base in Daegu.

Source: <a href="http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/Engnews/20070321/610000000020070321140727E1.html">yonhapnews.co.kr</a>

KF-16 fighter jets grounded amid concern over engine failures

2007/03/22 18:06 KST

SEOUL, March 22 (Yonhap) -- At least one of South Korea's KF-16 fighter jets has been found to have a serious engine problem similar to that of a same-model jet that crashed here last month, a senior Air Force official said Thursday.

He added that dozens of other KF-16 fighter jets have been also grounded for checkups on possible engine hitches, which the Air Force ascribed to engineers' negligence of duty or even corruption.

But he refused to reveal the exact number of planes grounded, only saying 60 percent of about 130 KF-16 jets in the country are in normal operation.

"Some remain grounded because of the need for closer technical checkups in the wake of a recent KF-16 jet crash, while others are not in service for routine maintenance," the official said, asking not to be named.

Safety concerns about South Korea's fleet of KF-16 jets have been rekindled since a jet went down in the West Sea on Feb. 13. Its engine failure was caused by poor maintenance, investigators said. Each KF-16 jet is priced at around 40 billion won (US$42 million).

The U.S. engine maker Pratt & Whitney, which supplied the KF-16's engines, advised the Air Force to replace a flawed part of the doomed jet's engine or risk an accident, but mechanics ignored it, according to the Air Force's in-house probe.

The Air Force immediately conducted a wider audit on its plane maintenance and logistical supply system.

Announcing his resignation on Wednesday, Air Force Chief of Staff Kim Sung-il said he was "shocked" by what the audit revealed.

"Structural flaws in the Air Force's logistical supply system have been confirmed, and I was shocked by the fact that a number of officials will face punishment," he said in a statement.

The four-star general said he decided to step down to take full responsibility for the problem on behalf of the engineers. President Roh Moo-hyun was quick to accept Kim's resignation.

The Defense Ministry and state auditors are separately looking into allegations that a large amount of the budget for fighter jet maintenance have been embezzled, and maintenance-related records have been fabricated.

"Through our investigation on some sampled engines, we found that at least one more KF-16 fighter jet has the same engine problem as the aircraft that crashed last month," the Air Force official said. "But the jet had continued flights until recently, as engineers fabricated their servicing records."

He added that the Air Force has removed a total of 60 engine turbines with the same product code as that of the doomed jet for scrutiny.

"We completed an inspection of 10 engine turbines, and found that one of them is flawed," he said. "We plan to disassemble the remaining 50 engine turbines for precise checkups."

Defense sources said last month's jet crash appears to be just the tip of the iceberg, given the chronic corruption in the Air Force's jet maintenance sector.

Source: http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/Engnews ... 705E2.html