Tire damage blamed for KF-16 runway accident: Air Force
This Jan. 23 file photo shows a KF-16 fighter jet. Courtesy of the Repubilic of Korea Air Force
Tire damage was found to have caused an accident in which a KF-16 fighter jet veered off an air base runway earlier this week, the Air Force said Wednesday.
The single-seat fighter jet went off a runway at the air base in the central city of Chungju at around 4:38 p.m. Tuesday, while preparing to take off for training. No casualties were reported.
"The runway excursion was confirmed to have been caused by damage of the nose gear tire, incurred due to a foreign object," the armed service said in a notice to reporters.
The Air Force said the pilot detected the issue and tried to stop the aircraft in accordance with relevant procedure but the fighter jet ran off the runway as the tire defect caused difficulties in direction control.
All KF-16 aircraft will resume operation starting Thursday as no technical issues of the aircraft were detected, it added.