Fell from KA-1 During Training the Previous Day
Search Continues for Remaining Items Including Fuel Tanks
The Air Force recovered two gun pods that had fallen from a KA-1 airborne control attack aircraft during training on April 18.
On April 19, the Air Force notified the press corps, stating, "Starting at 6 a.m. today, we deployed one HH-60 helicopter and approximately 270 personnel to search the expected drop area," and added, "We recovered two gun pods in the mountainous area of Jucheon-myeon, Yeongwol-gun, Gangwon Province."
Previously, at around 8:22 p.m. on April 18, an incident occurred in the skies over Pyeongchang-gun, Gangwon Province, during a nighttime simulated firing exercise. Two gun pods and two empty fuel tanks fell from a KA-1 aircraft belonging to the Air Force's Wonju base. A gun pod is a type of case equipped with a machine gun, and both the machine guns embedded in the pods and 500 rounds of 12.7mm live ammunition fell together.
The fuel tanks and live ammunition among the fallen items have not yet been found. The Air Force stated, "It is currently raining at the search site, so for safety reasons, the search and recovery operations for the remaining dropped items, including the fuel tanks, will continue tomorrow."
The Air Force added, "It has been confirmed that there was no civilian damage as a result of this incident, and the cause of the accident is under investigation," and continued, "We sincerely apologize to the public for causing concern once again due to this incident."
The Air Force has formed an accident investigation committee to determine the cause of the accident. It is reported that the committee has obtained a statement from the pilot involved in the incident, indicating that he "pressed the wrong control button."
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