South Korean pilot killed after fighter jet crashes into mountain
- An engine fire warning came on soon after the aircraft took off, leading it to crash into a mountain in the city of Hwaseong
- The F-5E is an older generation fighter jet with a design that dates back to the 1960s
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A South Korean air force pilot was killed on Tuesday after his F-5E fighter jet crashed in a mountain south of the capital Seoul apparently due to engine failure, the air force said.
An engine fire warning came on shortly after the aircraft took off at around 1.44pm from its base in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, leading it to crash into a mountain in the nearby city of Hwaseong.
The pilot of captain rank, who was only identified by his surname Shim and was the only person aboard the plane, had failed to escape despite his efforts, the air force said in a statement.
A team will investigate the exact cause of the accident and damage.
The F-5E is an older generation fighter jet with a design that dates back to the 1960s.
South Korea has operated around 200 F-5s since it adopted them from the United States in the mid-1970s, most of which have already been or are soon to be decommissioned.
South Korea grounds entire F-35 fleet after dramatic emergency landing
A dozen F-5s have crashed in South Korea since 2000, according to Yonhap news agency, including in 2010 when two of the aircraft plunged into a mountain on the east coast, killing three pilots.
Last week, South Korea grounded its entire fleet of advanced F-35 fighter jets, after one of them was forced to make a dramatic emergency landing after a major systems malfunction.
After the landing gear on the jet stopped working, the pilot chose not to eject and instead landed the jet on its belly – walking away without any injuries.
