Air Force says engine failure caused crash of trainer jet

SEOUL, July 8 (Yonhap) -- The military trainer jet that crashed late last month suffered an engine failure in midair, the Air Force said Friday. A T-103 aircraft crashed into a rice paddy near the Air Force Academy in Cheongwon, some 120 kilometers south of Seoul, on June 21. The Air Force said in a statement that the jet had completed successful taking off and landing drills on 11 previous occasions, but its engine gave out on the 12th practice run. "We've concluded that fuel distributor malfunctions caused the engine to stop," the Air Force said. "Our team of 13 experts studied the scene of the crash and the maintenance records of the jet, among other information available." The Air Force said it has completed thorough inspections of all T-103 jets and they will resume flights next Monday. The single-engine, propeller-driven jet is a primary trainer for the Air Force here. It was developed by the former Soviet Union in 1990 and is now produced in Russia.