South Korea Grounds F-35 Fleet After Emergency Belly Landing

A Republic of Korea Air Force F-35A takes off July 20, at Luke Air Force Base, Arizona. [Courtesy: US Air Force]

The Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF) grounded its fleet of F-35s pending an investigation after one of its pilots was forced to make an emergency landing after the aircraft’s landing gear system malfunctioned, according to reports.

The pilot did not eject during the incident, remaining in the aircraft to land it. “All systems had stopped working except flight controls and the engine,” ROKAF vice chief of staff Shin Ok-chul said Wednesday, CBS News reported.

The incident, which is the first reported emergency landing of the stealth fighter in South Korea, occurred shortly before 1 p.m. Tuesday at Seosan Air Base, about 65 miles southwest from Seoul. The pilot survived the hard landing “unscathed,” military officials said, Yonhap News Agency reported.

ROKAF grounded its fleet of more than 30 F-35A Lightning II Joint Strike Fighters pending an investigation into the incident.

“Its landing gear should have been down, but it wasn’t,” a South Korean Air Force official told Stars and Stripes. “So, it made a belly landing.”

F-35A flights will be grounded “for a while,” the official added.

According to Lockheed Martin, South Korea selected the F-35 in 2014 for its F-X III fighter program, and is currently taking deliveries of 40 F-35A Conventional Take Off and Landing (CTOL) variants.

“We are aware of the emergency landing that occurred Tuesday at Seosan Air Base and stand ready to support the Republic of Korea Air Force,” a spokesperson for Lockheed Martin told FLYING.