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| A passenger car is damaged in a village in Sacheon, South Gyeongsang Province, southeastern South Korea, April 1, 2022, after being hit by what is believed to be debris from two Air Force KT-1 trainer jets that collided in midair and crashed. The accident left four pilots dead. Yonhap |
The Air Force said Wednesday that the deadly crashes of two KT-1 trainer jets earlier this month were due to a set of human errors, including pilot communication failures.
Wrapping up a weeks-long probe, its investigation team said a combination of failures in communication between the pilots and among the pilots and air traffic control personnel led to the April 1 crashes that killed all four aboard the jets.
The jets went down in a rice paddy in Sacheon, about 300 kilometers south of Seoul, after colliding in midair during a training session, shortly after taking off from a nearby base.
The crashes occurred as three KT-1 trainers ― two in flight formation and the other on its own ― were flying toward an operational area.
An instructor aboard one of the jets in formation abruptly changed course to avoid clouds and did not properly notify the other jet in the formation of the change, the team said.
During the process, ground control tower personnel also failed to properly communicate the course change to the pilots.
Such failures caused a collision between the two jets ― one of the jets in formation and the other on a separate route, according to the team.
There was no evidence of mechanical defects, it added.
The Air Force plans to refer those responsible for the crashes, including the instructor in question and air traffic control personnel to a disciplinary panel.
Korea has operated the locally developed single-engine, two-seat basic training aircraft since 2000.
It was the first mid-air collision of two KT-1 jets, and the first such accident involving any pair of Air Force planes since two F-5E fighter jets collided in 2008. (Yonhap)
