Air Force dismisses 2 unit commanders over accidental jet bombing

Air Force troops take part in restoration work at a village in Pocheon, which was mistakenly bombed by fighter jets last week, Gyeonggi Province, March 10. Yonhap

Two Air Force unit commanders were dismissed Tuesday over fighter jets' accidental bombing of a village last week, the armed services said, citing charges of dereliction of duty and insufficient supervision.

On Thursday, two KF-16 fighter jets dropped eight 500-pound MK-82 bombs outside a training range in Pocheon, some 40 kilometers north of Seoul, during live-fire drills, injuring 31 people, including 19 civilians.

"The Air Force dismissed a colonel-level group commander and a lieutenant colonel-level squadron commander who were identified to have breached their duty to abide by regulations," the armed forces said in a notice to reporters.

It cited a major dereliction of duty, and insufficient command management and supervision as reasons for the decision.

Separately, the Air Force said it plans to hold a meeting next week to deliberate on whether the two pilots who flew the fighter jets will be qualified to continue to operate aircraft.

In an interim probe, the Air Force pointed to pilot error for the accidental bombing, saying that the pilots had at least three opportunities to catch their mistakes after entering wrong target coordinates prior to takeoff.

The Air Force also attributed the accident to inadequate management and inspection procedures, saying specific instructions were not given by superiors. (Yonhap)