"Rest Peacefully in the Beloved Sky" ... Funeral Ceremony for Four Fallen Pilots of Sacheon City

At the entrance of the guard post of the Air Force 3rd Training Flight Group, where the funeral ceremony for four Air Force pilots who died in an accident during fighter jet flight training in Sacheon, Gyeongnam was held, a fellow soldier is saluting the hearse.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Se-ryeong] On the 1st, two KT-1 fighter jets collided and crashed during flight training at the Air Force 3rd Training Flight Group in Sacheon-si, Gyeongnam, resulting in the deaths of all four onboard.

The funeral service was held privately as a unit funeral at the Anchangnam Cultural Hall of the Air Force 3rd Training Flight Group, the unit to which they belonged, on the 4th.

The late Professor Jeon Yong-an, Professor Lee Jang-hee, Captain Jeong Jong-hyeok, and Captain Cha Jae-young, who died in the line of duty, were buried at the National Daejeon National Cemetery that afternoon.

The funeral was attended by Air Force Chief of Staff Park In-ho, the bereaved families, fellow pilots, classmates, and unit members, and proceeded in the order of salute to the deceased, report of career, eulogy, memorial service, religious ceremony, flower offering, and incense burning.

Colonel Park Jong-woon, commander of the 3rd Training Flight Group, recited the eulogy, saying, “I believe that the deceased will brightly illuminate and firmly protect the path of the young Boramae pilots walking the path of pilots in the blue sky of the homeland they loved so much, and we will forever remember their infinite dedication and sacrifice.”

A representative of the deceased student pilots’ classmates gave a final farewell, saying, “Your images will remain forever in our hearts. Rest well in the sky you loved.”

The Air Force stated that they are conducting a detailed analysis of the cause of the accident by collecting the DVAR, a device that stores flight data such as video information obtained through the front camera, voice information exchanged during flight, and detailed altitude, attitude, and heading data.

Along with determining the cause of the accident, recovery of the training aircraft debris that fell near Okdong Village in Jeongdong-myeon, Sacheon-si, and surrounding areas is also underway.