Two Air Force KT-1 trainer jets collided mid-air and crashed in southern South Korea on Friday, killing all four pilots aboard the planes, the Air Force and local disaster response officials said.
The jets went down in a rice paddy in Sacheon, about 300 kilometres south of Seoul, after colliding with each other in midair at around 13:37 during training, just minutes after their takeoffs from a nearby base.
The Air Force said each jet carried a first lieutenant trainee pilot and a civilian flight instructor. All four ejected from the planes but were later found dead.
Over 62 firefighters and emergency responders were dispatched to the crash site. A fire broke out on the rooftop of a church after debris from the jet fell but was soon put out.
The KAI KT-1 Woongbi is a South Korean single-engined turboprop, basic training aircraft. It was jointly developed by Korean Aerospace Industries (KAI) and the Agency for Defence Development (ADD). The KT-1 is the first completely indigenous Korean aircraft ever developed.
Source: Yonhap & Wikipedia