Singapore (Agencies): Singapore’s defence ministry announced that it will resume flying its F-16 fleet after suspending training due to a recent crash. The incident occurred on May 8 when one of the jets experienced a malfunction caused by erroneous inputs from its pitch rate gyroscopes. As a result, the pilot was unable to control the plane during take-off, but successfully ejected.
F-16 fighter jets are equipped with four gyroscopes, and a simultaneous failure is exceptionally rare. The ministry assured that all pitch rate gyroscopes will be thoroughly inspected before flights resume. Additionally, both the Singaporean air force and F-16 manufacturer Lockheed Martin (LMT.N) will investigate the specific cause of the malfunction.
This crash marks the first such incident for a Singaporean fighter jet since 2004, when an F-16C crashed during a night training mission in Arizona, resulting in the loss of the 25-year-old pilot’s life.