South Korea's F-35 stealth fighter jet was finally grounded after experiencing a malfunction during landing. The incident of an emergency landing of an F-35 fighter jet variant of the F-35A belonging to South Korea has a long tail on all units owned by this Ginseng Country.
Initially, the incident occurred when an F-35A fighter jet was about to land, but the landing gear did not open due to a major system failure.
The pilot of the South Korean F-35A fighter jet chose to make an emergency landing with the fuselage and ended up safe for the pilot. This emergency landing was the first belly landing incident for an F-35A in South Korea.
According to AFP, the government decided to ban the F-35A from flying pending the results of the investigation.
"With an ongoing investigation, the entire F-35 fleet is suspended from flight," a ministry official told AFP news agency.
South Korea's F-35A emergency landing chronology
South Korean Air Force deputy chief of staff Shin Ok-Chul explained the chronology of the F-35A's emergency landing.
An F-35A fighter jet was flying low when the pilot heard an explosion.
"All systems stopped working except for flight controls and engines," said Ok Chul.
As a result, when landing, the wheels did not want to come out and the pilot was forced to make a belly landing. Military crews spray special foam on the runway to prevent explosions when the plane's belly rubs against the runway.
The emergency landing went well and there were no injuries or fatalities. South Korea has ordered 40 F-35A fighter jets to the US since 2014.
The first batch of F-35As came to Seoul in 2019 and has been operating since then. However, this is the first time this system crashing incident has occurred.
The South Korean incident adds to a long list of unfortunate events related to the F-35 fighter jet.
Previously, it was reported that a British F-35B fighter jet also crashed into the sea as it was about to take off from the aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth in November 2021.
The United States produces three variants of the F-35 fighter jet:
- F-35A for overseas export version and standard takeoff and landing capability (cannot be used on aircraft carriers).
- F-35B for overseas export version that can be used on aircraft carriers.
- F-35C for the US Navy special version of the US Navy and can be used on aircraft carriers.
Sales of the F-35 were very successful in 2021 and became one of the most popular fighter jets in the world.
Although much in demand, unfortunately the progress of sales of the F-35 is also marked by production delays and many delays.
