Pilot Error Caused South Korean Fighter Jet Salah To Drop 8 Bombs Into Civilian Area

UNSPLASH/Clayton Holmes ILLUSTRATION

JAKARTA - The South Korean Air Force on Monday confirmed the pilot's error was at the root of the incident when the fighter jet dropped an artillery bomb in the civilian area last week.

On Thursday (6/3), two KF-16 aircraft were reported to have dropped eight MK82 bombs outside the training point area located 26 miles from Seoul, one of which crashed in Nogok Village.

The bomb damaged five houses and injured 15 people, according to the Chosun Ilbo newspaper. A warehouse, church, greenhouse, and truck were also reported to be damaged.

Yonhap news agency reported by ANTARA from Sputnik reported the results of an initial investigation showing the pilot misinstalled the target coordinates and ignored the three-step verification procedure before firing.

It is still unknown whether the pilot read or heard the coordinates that should be wrong.

Meanwhile, the pilot's commander failed to carry out his duties to investigate and give instructions for shooting a gun.

"The first pilot should have re-examined the target at least three times during the process of carrying out his duties, but it was not implemented," the South Korean Air Force said, Yonhap reported.

The pilot of the first jet is said to have failed to realize his mistake when entering the coordinates into the mission planning system and not checking the aircraft after the flight data transfer device was installed ahead of takeoff.

The pilot ignored the small changes in flight routes and instead started dropping bombs without verifying coordinates to complete the task on time.

The second jet pilot is known to have entered the correct coordinates. However, because the exercise took place was a simultaneous attack, he also followed the first aircraft action.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff stated that the incident occurred in the midst of a joint South Korean-United States exercise at the Seungjin Shooting Field in Pocheon. The exercise involved F-35A fighters, F-15K, KF-16 and FA-50.