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F15k
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Query should be done by outside group, critics level
The investigation of a June 7 F-15K fighter jet crash is being called inappropriate by a major civic group, which says that the investigating parties, the South Korean military and Boeing, have too much stake in the outcome of the investigation.
“It is inappropriate for the military and Boeing to investigate the cause of the crash," said a June 12 statement by the Peaceful Disarmament Center of the People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy. The center cited both parties’ role in the push for South Korea to have a "next-generation" fighter jet program. The center urged outside parties to run the investigation, or at least join the ongoing one.
In addition, the center called for the South Korean Air Force to stop already-placed orders on 36 F-15K jets until the Board of Audit and Inspection and the National Assembly complete their assessment of the next-generation fighter jet program.
The center pointed out that the ill-fated F-15K was the first F-15 fighter jet equipped with a new electronic control system. “Boeing should take responsibility for the crash if it is found to be caused by a malfunction in the new electronic control system,” it said. The center also said the General Electric-made engine used in the new F-15 fighter jets was the same engine involved in all prior crashes of the F-15 in the United States.
The center said the direct victim of the crash is the Air Force, who must use fighter jets whose reliability and safety are now called into question. “The Air Force should make its voice heard clearly during the investigation,” the center said.
