SEOUL, South Korea (CNN) -
The pilot of a South Korean F-35A fighter jet made an emergency "belly landing" at an air base on Tuesday after his landing gear malfunctioned due to electronic problems, said a spokesman for the South Korean Air Force.
According to experts, the "belly landing", meaning the landing with the landing gear retracted, was an unprecedented event for the US-designed stealth fighter plane, costing US $ 100 million. which is now being used or commissioned by more than a dozen countries.
A US-made F-35A fighter plane lands at Chungju Air Base, South Korea, on March 29, 2019.
"The plane made an emergency landing, as the landing gear was not deployed. This would mean that the plane made a 'belly landing'," said a South Korean military official, who did not want to confirm whether the plane suffered. some damage in the incident.
Even if it did, it would demonstrate the superb flying skills of the pilot, who authorities said came out of the landing unscathed, according to an officer.
"A landing without landing gear on the F-35 can be quite difficult and dangerous due to the angle of attack the aircraft has on approach to landing," said David Cenciotti, a former Italian Air Force officer and blog editor. The Aviationist.
"The F-35 lands really fast. It's not an F-16, an 18 or a 111," said Peter Layton, a former Australian Air Force officer who now works at the Griffith Asia Institute, referring to older military aircraft. and less sophisticated than the F-35.
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"I am very surprised that the emergency downshifting systems have not worked, or that they have not been used," he said.
Layton also expressed surprise that the South Korean pilot did not eject, "but it is clear that they did the right thing," he said.
South Korean authorities reported that an investigation into the incident is underway.
South Korea received its first American-made F-35s in 2019 as part of an initial order for 40 of the single-engine jets, according to the plane's maker, Lockheed Martin.
Versions of the F-35 are also flown by the U.S. Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps, as well as U.S. allies and partners such as Japan, the United Kingdom, Australia, Italy, Norway, the Netherlands. and Israel.
More countries have ordered the plane.
Tuesday's crash is the first in a South Korean F-35, but the planes have been involved in at least eight other incidents, according to records on the F-16.net website.
The most recent was the loss of a British F-35, which crashed into the Mediterranean Sea off the aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth in November.
The pilot ejected safely from that plane.
In May 2020, the pilot ejected safely after a US Air Force F-35 crashed while landing at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida.
The Air Force attributed the accident to a number of factors related to the pilot and the aircraft's systems.
In April 2019, a Japanese F-35 crashed into the Pacific Ocean off northern Japan, killing its pilot.
The Japanese military attributed this accident to spatial disorientation, "a situation in which a pilot cannot correctly perceive the position, attitude, altitude or movement of an aircraft," according to the journal Military Medicine.
Lockheed Martin claims the F-35 "is the world's deadliest, most survivable and most connected fighter jet, giving pilots an advantage against any adversary and enabling them to execute their mission and return home safely. and saved ".
South KoreaF-35
