S. Korea to resume F-16 operations suspended after crash: official

By Sam Kim
SEOUL, April 3 (Yonhap) -- South Korea plans to resume operation of its F-16
fighter jets next week after they were grounded following a crash earlier this
week, an Air Force spokesman said Friday.

Tuesday's crash off the country's west coast, in which two pilots ejected, led to
the grounding of some 160 fighter jets, including about 130 South Korea-licensed
KF-16s and previously imported F-16s.
Their operations will resume next Monday, Colonel Kim Kyu-jin said, because the
KF-16 that went down appears to have displayed no major abnormalities on its
gauges at its final moment.
"The flight data recorder has yet to be retrieved, but the pilots say no alarm
turned on and that no irregularities were displayed at panels related to the
engine and the flight control," Kim told reporters.
Air Force Maj. General Yoon Yoo told lawmakers on Wednesday that the pilots said
they ejected because they could not properly operate their aircraft despite
repeated efforts to restore control.
Kim said chances of a malfunction appear slim following this week's initial
investigation into the incident, which took place 40 kilometers off the shore
shortly after the aircraft took off for training.
Kim declined to comment on whether the pilots misguided their aircraft, but said
he "cannot rule out any possibilities until the investigation is completed."
Naval vessels have been dispatched to the area to search for debris, Kim said,
adding the transcript of last-minute dialogue between the pilots and their base
cannot be disclosed because it could affect the investigation.
The incident was the 19th fighter jet crash in the country since 2000, and the
sixth involving an F-16.
F-16s fly as far as 800 kilometers and cost US$43 million per unit.
samkim@yna.co.kr
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