US Air Force cites hardware failure as cause of 2024 F-16 crash

A U.S. F-16 fighter jet lands at an air base in the southwestern city of Gwangju, South Jeolla Province, April 18. Yonhap

The crash of a U.S. F-16 fighter jet in waters off Korea's western coast in January last year was caused by a hardware failure that led to an engine stall, a report showed Tuesday.

On Jan. 31, a F-16C assigned to the U.S. 7th Air Force's 8th Fighter Wing at Kunsan Air Base in Gunsan, about 175 kilometers south of Seoul, crashed into the West Sea.

The crash occurred 41 minutes after the fighter jet took off for a routine training sortie conducted as part of a readiness exercise. The pilot safely ejected and was rescued, although the aircraft was not recovered.

"The Accident Investigation Board President found by a preponderance of evidence the cause of the mishap was an engine stall due to hardware failure," the U.S. Air Force said in a report published last week.

Noting that the conclusion was reached based on witness statements and audio recordings as the aircraft was not retrieved, the report mentioned a loss of engine power to maintain attitude and airspeed.

It also mentioned how the pilot was unable to make a successful landing due to the distance to the nearest airport.

The incident was the latest in a series of three back-to-back U.S. F-16 crashes that occurred in Korea from 2023-24.

The first U.S. F-16 crashed into farmland in May 2023, followed by another F-16 that crashed into the West Sea during routine training in December the same year. All of the pilots ejected from the aircraft and were rescued.

The investigation board blamed the May crash on a partial aircraft power loss while citing an embedded GPS inertial navigation system failure for the December incident.