The South Korean pilot had to perform almost a feat in an attempt to save the newest American fighter-the "invisible" F-35A, which did not have all the landing gear at once. The car had to be put on the fuselage. The Air Force of the Republic of Korea suspended flights of all available F-35s until the reasons that provoked the emergency situation are clarified.
According to local media, the incident with the South Korean Air Force F-35A aircraft occurred today at the ROK Air Force Base in Sosan, where the 20th combat flight unit is based. At 12:51 a.m. local time, during a training flight, the pilot recorded problems in the on-board electronics system of the F-35A fighter, as a result of which all landing gear failed at once.
Despite the great danger to the pilot, he decided to try to save the car by landing it on the fuselage on the runway of a military airfield (the so-called "belly landing").
While the aircraft was developing a fuel resource in the air, the ground services of the military base covered the runway with a special foam that reduces friction and reduces the possibility of fire, in addition, fire trucks and ambulances were pulled to the runway.
The pilot had to perform almost a feat, as he managed to land the fighter on the fuselage, avoiding a fire and at the same time he himself remained alive. According to the representative of the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the pilot's condition is normal, his life is out of danger. It was also noted that thanks to the special foam, as well as the skill of the pilot, the fighter body did not receive serious damage.
"To date, there have been no official cases of forced landing of the F-35 on the fuselage. It turns out that our case is the first in history," the Yonhap news agency reported, quoting a source in the Military department of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
The South Korean Defense Ministry also said that, together with American specialists, it had launched an investigation into the causes that caused the malfunction and provoked an emergency landing. Until the investigation is completed and the final conclusions are received, the use of all F-35s in the South Korean Air Force is suspended.
Recall that South Korea purchased a total of 40 F-35 vehicles from the United States, which were delivered to the local Air Force. This deal has become the largest defense contract in the history of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Seoul has spent more than $7 billion on these machines. Despite the huge cost of fifth-generation US fighters, South Korea considered that they needed "stealth planes" to confront the DPRK, which began to replace the outdated F-4 and F-5 fighters that were in service with the ROK Air Force.
Oleg Kiryanov (Seoul)
