Selfie costing $600,000: a maneuver and a collision between two F-15 fighter jets
A “selfie” caused an aerial incident involving two F-15 fighter jets, narrowly avoiding an air disaster in South Korea.
On Thursday, the South Korean Air Force apologized for a mid-air collision that occurred in 2021 between two fighter jets, one day after investigators announced that the pilots had been taking selfies and filming during the flight and held them responsible for the incident.
An Air Force spokesperson said during a press conference, “We sincerely apologize to the public for the concern caused by the incident that occurred in 2021.”
The spokesperson added that one of the pilots involved in the incident was suspended from flying duties, received a severe disciplinary sanction, and has since left the military.
This apology followed the release, on Wednesday, of a report by the government’s Board of Audit and Inspection, which concluded that unplanned maneuvers carried out for personal photography purposes led to the collision of two F-15K aircraft while flying near the city of Daegu in December 2021.
Auditors stated that a co-pilot attempted to capture images to commemorate his final flight with the unit. He then climbed and sharply deviated the aircraft without authorization to improve the camera angle, while another pilot was recording a video from the other jet.
As the two aircraft approached each other, their crews attempted an evasive maneuver, but the tail of the co-pilot’s aircraft struck the wing of the other jet, causing damage estimated at around 880 million won (600,000 dollars), according to the British newspaper The Guardian.
No one was injured.
The Board of Audit held the co-pilot primarily responsible, while also criticizing the Air Force for lax oversight of in-flight photography at the time.
The pilot was also ordered to repay approximately one-tenth of the repair costs. The Air Force stated that it is taking steps to tighten aviation safety rules and prevent a recurrence of such an incident.
