Ministry of National Defense Investigation Headquarters Criminally Charges Two Pilots in Friendly Fire Accident

The Direct Cause of the Accident Was "Incorrect Coordinate Input"
Charged With Professional Negligence Causing Injury, Among Other Offenses

The Defense Ministry Investigation Headquarters announced on the 13th that two pilots responsible for the KF-16 fighter jet friendly fire accident that occurred in the Pocheon area of Gyeonggi Province have been criminally charged with professional negligence causing injury, among other charges.

Yonhap News

Through investigations conducted so far, the Investigation Headquarters confirmed that the pilots' erroneous input of target coordinates was the direct cause of the KF-16 friendly fire accident. Previously, the Air Force also revealed in an interim investigation report that the accident occurred when the pilot of aircraft number 1 called out the coordinates, and the pilot of aircraft number 2 mistakenly entered the latitude coordinate '×× 05.×××' as '×× 00.×××' into the Joint Mission Planning System (JMPS) during the flight mission planning process.

The Investigation Headquarters stated, "Regarding the Air Force fighter jet friendly fire accident, investigations conducted so far have confirmed that the pilots' erroneous input of target coordinates was the direct cause of the accident," and added, "we will continue to investigate the direct and indirect causes of this friendly fire accident."