Pilots inattention resulted in jet crash

The fatal crash of an RF-4C surveillance aircraft last month was caused by the impairment of “selective attention” by the pilots, the Air Force said Friday.

On Nov. 12, the two pilots of the aircraft were killed when the plane crashed into a mountain near Imsil, North Jeolla Province, during a routine training mission.

Since then, an investigation team has probed the exact cause of the accident by reviewing a radar track chart, wreckage of the aircraft, audio messages and other data, the service said.

“The investigation suggested that a pilot suffered from impairment of selective attention and failed to recognize the altitude, while the aircraft was flying a low-altitude mission to capture images of a target area,” an Air Force spokesman said. “The pilot appeared to have tried to recover but ultimately failed.”

Selective attention is the focusing of one’s conscious awareness on a particular stimulus. For example, selective attention is attributed to many car accidents with drivers focusing on talking on a phone or holding a conversation with a passenger, resulting in missing a turn or becoming involved in an accident.

South Korea introduced RF-4C planes, modified from the F-4 Phantom II of the U.S. Air Force, in the early 1990s.

Equipped with surveillance cameras and radar systems, the aircraft fly missions near the inter-Korean border to gather information on North Korea, and carry out terrain and ground mapping.

The last incident involving an RF-4C occurred in April 2008. At that time, the two pilots ejected from the aircraft.