THE REPUBLIC of Korea Air Force (RoKAF) has grounded its Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning Ⅱ fleet after one example was forced to perform an emergency belly landing following an avionics system-related issue on January 4. According to South Korea's Yonhap News Agency, the aircraft had been conducting a training mission when an unspecified landing gear malfunction forced the pilot to perform a gear-up landing on a foam-covered runway at Seosan Air Base in the nation's South Chungcheong province. The incident occurred at 1251hrs (local time) and the pilot walked away unharmed. While the F-35A is reported to have received minor damage during the incident, no further details have been revealed regarding the extent of it. As a result of this incident, South Korean officials decided to suspend all RoKAF F-35A flights pending the result of an investigation into the avionics, which is suspected to be to blame. Yonhap added that the RoKAF approached the US military with a proposal to launch a joint investigation to determine the cause of the emergency landing.
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