[News Today] Fighter jet emergency exit in drill

[LEAD]
A South Korean Air Force fighter jet caught fire while taking off in Alaska. Both pilots ejected safely. It's the first time an accident like this has occurred during overseas training.

[REPORT]
Flames shoot out from the front of a fighter jet and firefighters are busy putting it out.

The fighter jet is clearly visible behind plumes of smoke.

The fighter jet is the South Korean Air Force KF-16 taking part in the Red Flag-Alaska multinational joint military drills.

The jet left the air base in Chungju on June 5th to participate in the exercise. It was taking off to adjust to the local surroundings ahead of the main training.

Something went wrong as the fighter jet was accelerating on the runway for takeoff.

Two pilots made it out of the jet by activating the ejection seats.

The military hospital nearby said they sustained no injuries and they're resting now.

The canopy over the cockpit was blown away for emergency escape and parts of the fuselage suffered damage from the fire.

This is Korea's first fighter jet accident that occurred during an overseas exercise. The Korean military sent a response team to the site.

Jang Dong-ha / Air Force, Seoul Public Affairs Officer
The military will urgently dispatch an accident investigation team and emergency maintenance crew of around ten members to Eielson Air Force Base via KC-330 aerial refueling transport aircraft.

There were two similar cases involving the KF-16 combat jet at the Seosan Air Base in Chungcheongnam-do Province in 2021 and 2023. The pilots had to make an emergency escape while taking off.

At the time, the accidents were each caused by a bird and a rubber packing which were sucked into the engine.

The military is looking into the possibility that this accident was also caused by a foreign object sucked into the engine during takeoff.

But authorities are also keeping in mind other possibilities of pilot error or defective aircraft and investigating the cause of the accident with its American counterpart.