Air Force KF-16 Runway Excursion Caused by Tire Damage from Foreign Object

F-16 Series Fighter Jet Flights to Resume from the 25th

The cause of the Republic of Korea Air Force KF-16 runway excursion that occurred on the 23rd has been identified as a nose gear tire failure.

On the 24th, the Air Force announced, "The KF-16 runway excursion was confirmed to have been caused by nose gear tire damage due to a foreign object."

KF-16

Previously, the Air Force had reported that at approximately 4:38 p.m. the previous day, a KF-16 at the Chungju base veered off the runway during a takeoff roll for training. The fighter jet came to a stop on adjacent ground after leaving the runway, and the pilot safely evacuated the aircraft.

According to the Air Force, the pilot detected an abnormal situation with the aircraft at the time of the incident and issued an abort call to halt takeoff. The pilot attempted to stop the aircraft according to procedure, but was unable to maintain direction due to the tire failure, resulting in the runway excursion.

Meanwhile, as the cause of the accident has been confirmed not to be an airframe defect, the Air Force plans to resume flights of all F-16 series fighter jets starting on the 25th.