A South Korean Air Force pilot mistakenly pressed the emergency jettison button while attempting to adjust the heating in a KA-1 light attack aircraft that accidentally dropped its weapons and fuel tanks last week, authorities said Monday.
The Air Force said the pilot was attempting to adjust an air vent that was disrupting his vision when the incident occurred at 8:22 p.m. on Friday over Pyeongchang, Gangwon Province, during a nighttime mock firing exercise.
The vent and emergency jettison button, which measure 3.5 centimeters and 3.3 centimeters in diameter, respectively, are located close to each other, contributing to the confusion, authorities said.
“The pilot, who was wearing night vision goggles, reported that strong wind was blowing into his helmet through the ventilation system. While trying to adjust the heater controls near the air vent, he mistakenly pressed the emergency jettison button,” Lt. Col. Jang Dong-ha, spokesperson for the Air Force, said during a press briefing in Seoul.
As of Monday, the military had recovered both gun pods, the fuel tanks and 495 rounds of ammunition. Five rounds remained missing.
The KA-1, a light attack variant of the KT-1 trainer aircraft, carries two pilots. The jettisoned gun pods, which house machine guns, also contained 500 rounds of 12.7 mm live ammunition. The dropped fuel tanks were empty. The aircraft returned safely to Wonju Air Base after reporting the incident to air traffic control. No emergency procedures were required.
In response, the Air Force deployed a helicopter and about 270 personnel to the mountainous area where the equipment was dropped in Yeongwol, Gangwon Province.
The Air Force confirmed that the equipment landed in uninhabited mountainous terrain and caused no civilian injuries or property damage. It added that it plans to conduct a comprehensive review of all related systems, including personnel, organizational structure and flight procedures.
Training flights, which were suspended following the accident, are scheduled to resume Tuesday. These include the Freedom Flag exercise, a South Korea–US joint air drill that began Thursday and runs through May 2.
Friday's incident comes after another one on March 3, when a misfire from a KF-16 fighter jet injured more than 30 people and damaged around 140 homes. That incident was also credited to pilot error, via inputting incorrect targeting coordinates.
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