The pilot’s error blamed for the wrong bombing jet on Pocheon

Military officials inspect an area in which a suspected bomb was thrown in Pocheon, Gyeonggi province, March 6th.

It is suspected that the pilot error on Thursday caused an accidental bombing of a civil area of ​​a border town, in an unprecedented accident, which left at least 15 injured, military officials said.

Two KF-16 “abnormal” fighter jets gave up four MK-82 air-surface bombs each outside of a training ground in Pocheon, about 40 kilometers north of Seoul, at 10:04, while participating in live fire exercises with American troops, according to officials.

An aircraft official told reporters an initial investigation found that one of one -chair guards has wrongly entered the coordinates for the strike before take -off, which led to the accidental bombardment.

Due to the apparent mistake, the bombs were thrown over a village about 8 kilometers away from the target field, leaving two with serious injuries and damaging eight buildings.

The official said that the authorities analyze whether the pilot has properly followed the procedures to verify the coordinates introduced.

The investigation will also check the possible laps in the control of air traffic, while the fighter planes have removed from the planned flight path due to the wrong target coordinates, according to the official.

An official of the Ministry of Defense said that the army will suspend all live fire exercises until the exact cause of the accident is determined.

The air force asked for excuses for accidental bombing and promised to take the “response measures”, including compensation for damage.

Accidental bombing took place while Korean and American troops led live fire exercises, involving over 160 pieces of military hardware, including tanks and fighter jets, in the training range near the border with North Korea.

The exercises were designed to serve as leadership to the main exercise of the Spring Allies Freedom Shield, scheduled to start on Monday for an 11 -day running.

A military official said that Freedom SCUL will take place as planned, but the authorities were in discussions for possible changes in the field preparation. (Yonhap)