South Korea T-50 Crashes, Killing 2 Pilots

Aug. 28, 2013 – Defense News (AFP)

SEOUL — Two pilots were killed Wednesday when a South Korean air force jet trainer crashed near the southwestern city of Gwangju, the defense ministry said.

Investigations were underway to determine the cause of the crash of the T-50 aircraft, a spokesman said.

It was the second crash in less than a year involving a T-50, South Korea’s first indigenous supersonic aircraft jointly developed by Korea Aerospace Industries and Lockheed Martin.

A T-50B aircraft crashed into a mountain in the northeast last November, killing a pilot.

Indonesia in 2011 ordered 16 T-50s and Seoul is pursuing other contracts from the Philippines and Iraq.