Air Force retrieves black boxes from trainer jets after crash

Debris from a KT-1 trainer jet following a midair collision with another KT-1 is seen in Sacheon, South Gyeongsang Province, in this April 1 photo. Yonhap

The Air Force said Sunday it had retrieved the black boxes from the recent crash involving two KT-1 trainer jets, allowing its investigation into the cause of the incident to pick up speed

An Air Force official said Sunday that a black box from one of the two jets was recovered Saturday morning from the crash site in Sacheon, 440 kilometers south of Seoul. The official added that the black box from the other jet had been retrieved earlier.

These black boxes should contain all flight and communications records at the time of the crash.

The two KT-1 jets collided in midair Friday afternoon, killing all four pilots aboard. Each jet carried a trainee pilot and a civilian flight instructor. The Air Force said all four ejected from the planes but were later found dead.

KT-1, the homegrown single-engine, two-seat basic training aircraft, has been in operation since 2000.

According to the Air Force, this was the first midair collision of KT-1 jets, and the first such involving any pair of Air Force planes since two F-5E fighter jets collided in 2008. (Yonhap)

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