Korea Inspects Pilot System of Local T-50 Trainers

T50i TNI AU @ Yogyakarta

South Korea said Monday it was looking into the pilot-related system of its T-50 trainer aircraft following the crash of a jet in Indonesia over the weekend.

Two pilots were killed in a crash on Sunday of the plane South Korea exported to Indonesia, during an air show celebrating the 70th anniversary of Indonesia's flight school in Yogyakarta, a tourist city on the main island of Java.

While the Indonesian defense ministry is investigating the cause of the crash, South Korea is conducting its own safety checks on 48 T-50 Golden Eagles, an official said.

"On our part, we plan to examine the pilot system of the (South Korean) Air Force's T-50s," Defense Ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok told reporters.

The Air Force briefly grounded all of the T-50s in service for inspection.

Some of them resumed flights in the afternoon but the Air Force said it would continue efforts to see if there is any glitch.

The T-50 is a single-engine, two-seater aircraft, jointly built by Korean aerospace company Korea Aerospace Industries and U.S. defense manufacturing giant Lockheed Martin.

The doomed plane was apparently spinning out of control during its aerobatic maneuvering in the Indonesian air show and crashed into an air force base complex, according to local media in the Southeast Asian country.

  ✈ Korea Herald