Military Band Summoned for Drinking and Partying, Mid-Air Collision Also Concealed

[Anchor]

Since last year, the Air Force has faced relentless criticism over lax discipline following a series of accidents, ranging from a fighter jet mistakenly bombing a civilian area to a machine gun falling from an airborne control aircraft. Although the Air Force apologized and promised to restore discipline, video footage obtained by SBS of an internal dinner gathering this past April showed a completely different reality. At this "communication meeting" attended by Air Force generals, not only were they drinking, singing, and dancing during duty hours, but military band soldiers were also mobilized. The following day, the wing commander's scheduled flight was also canceled.

First up is an exclusive report by reporter Bae Jun-woo.

[Reporter Bae Jun-woo]

Air Force officers dressed in flight suits jump up and down with their hands raised, while military band soldiers liven up the atmosphere by playing guitar, keyboard, and singing.

The officers even form a line, dancing in what is known as a train dance.

The two dancing in the center are a lieutenant general, commander of the Air Force Education and Training Command, and a brigadier general, commander of the 3rd Flying Training Wing.

This footage was taken at the communication meeting held by the Education and Training Commander at the cafeteria of the Air Force's 3rd Flying Training Wing in Sacheon, South Gyeongsang Province, on April 29.

The original event schedule included a meeting, group exercise, and an encouragement dinner, but the group exercise was skipped, and they reportedly spent about three hours drinking and dining starting at 5 p.m.

An officer who attended the dinner stated, "Each officer drank about one or two bottles of soju, and they also drank a lot of beer and strong whiskey."

Criticism is rising from within the Air Force that having a drinking party before duty hours had ended and mobilizing military band soldiers for an officers' drinking gathering, rather than an official military event, could constitute a violation of service regulations.

In addition, the commander of the 3rd Flying Training Wing reportedly canceled an "on-site inspection flight" scheduled for April 30, the day after the dinner.

While drinking is cited as the reason for the flight cancellation, the Air Force reportedly conducted no separate investigation.

The Air Force stated, "The communication meeting was held to encourage personnel whose morale had dropped due to a series of flight accidents."

(Video by Choi Jin-hwa | Graphics by Lim Chan-hyeok)

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[Anchor]

It has also been confirmed that a mid-air collision between trainer aircraft occurred at the 3rd Flying Training Wing, where the drinking gathering was held. Two months ago, two KT-1 trainer aircraft made emergency landings after colliding in mid-air. It was learned that an accident that could have easily resulted in casualties had been kept quiet internally.

Next is an exclusive report by senior defense reporter Kim Tae-hoon.

[Reporter Kim Tae-hoon]

On the morning of September 1, a KT-1 trainer aircraft belonging to the Air Force's 3rd Flying Training Wing conducted a flight training exercise simulating an engine flameout in the airspace near Sacheon Air Base in South Gyeongsang Province.

At the same time, another KT-1 approached the base, circling to land.

Without realizing each other's positions, the distance between the aircraft closed, resulting in a mid-air collision in which the wing of one aircraft struck the fuselage of the other.

Fortunately, both aircraft managed to make emergency landings, resulting in no casualties.

However, the wings and fuselages of both trainer aircraft were heavily damaged.

It was confirmed that the Air Force deemed the damage repairable, repaired the involved trainer aircraft, and redeployed them to the 3rd Flying Training Wing.

Although the Air Force reported the KT-1 collision to the Ministry of National Defense and the Joint Chiefs of Staff and prepared an accident investigation report, it has not notified the media even after two months have passed.

In particular, the KT-1 is a model requiring special attention to flight safety, as four people were killed in a mid-air collision in April 2022. Yet, the accident handling report was reportedly not shared with all Air Force units.

Amid continuing accidents involving fighter jets and transport aircraft since the mistaken bombing incident by a KF-16 fighter in Pocheon in March of last year, criticism is emerging within the Air Force that this collision was kept quiet to avoid backlash over lax discipline following yet another mid-air crash.

The Air Force explained, "We did not notify the media because the aircraft landed safely and there were no casualties."

(Video by Jeong SUNGHOON | Graphics by Kim Han-gil)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.