An 80th Fighter Squadron pilot lands an F-16 Fighting Falcon at Kunsan Air Base, South Korea, Oct. 8, 2019. (Joshua Edwards/U.S. Air Force)
SEOUL, South Korea — The crash of an Air Force fighter jet off South Korea’s western coast last year was due to the loss of instrumentation and poor weather, according to a 7th Air Force news release Friday.
The F-16C Fighting Falcon was over the Yellow Sea on Dec. 11 when it crashed “due to loss of primary flight and navigation instruments during adverse weather conditions,” the release states.
The fighter belonged to the 8th Fighter Wing at Kunsan Air Base, 115 miles south of Seoul. The pilot survived the crash although the aircraft was a total loss, according to 7th Air Force.
The Accident Investigation Board found that the F-16’s loss of flight and navigation instruments was prompted by the failure of an embedded GPS inertial navigation system.
That system’s failure, along with the unidentified pilot’s reliance on other indicators that showed inaccurate readings, led to “spatial disorientation,” according to the release.
Weather conditions, including dense cloud coverage 13 minutes after takeoff, exacerbated problems that popped up during the flight, the release said.
Guided by navigation and altitude information from a wingman, the pilot attempted to fly at a lower altitude to find a “cloud-free sky.”
However, the “mismatch in data between the standby indicator … and the wingman’s cues resulted in further spatial disorientation” and prompted the pilot’s decision to eject over water at 1,730 feet, according to the release.
The pilot was later rescued by the South Korean navy and coast guard and airlifted to Kunsan by a South Korean air force helicopter, 7th Air Force said at the time.
Another F-16 assigned to the 8th Fighter Wing crashed into the Yellow Sea on Jan. 31. The investigation into that crash is ongoing. Preliminary findings indicate the two crashes are unrelated, the release said.
A Kunsan-based F-16 crashed into a farm field near Osan Air Base during a routine flight on May 6, 2023. That crash was caused by power loss and adverse weather conditions, according to the Accident Investigation Board report. The pilot suffered minor injuries.
