S.Korean air force grounds fighters after deaths

SEOUL, March 3, 2010 (AFP) - South Korea's air force grounded most its fighter jets for safety checks on Wednesday, a day after two of them crashed into a mountain killing three pilots.

Only those "essential for surveillance flights" were still operating on Wednesday, a spokesman told AFP, adding: "When safety checks are completed the aircraft will return to flying one by another, starting Thursday."


Two ageing F-5 jets crashed Tuesday during a training mission near the east coast. The accident was the second such case in less than two years after two F-5Es crashed northeast of Seoul in November 2008.

While more modern aircraft will return to service quickly, the spokesman said all the F-5 jets -- about 170 -- would remain grounded until the cause of the crash was determined.

The first-generation F-5 went into service in the United States in the 1960s.


by Salil Panchal
© 2010 AFP