SINGAPORE: The crash of a Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) F-16 jet at Tengah Air Base earlier this month was due to a malfunction of a component known as pitch rate gyroscopes, the Ministry of Defence said on Saturday (May 18).
"The flight data recorder recovered from the crashed F-16 showed that its pitch rate gyroscopes gave erroneous inputs to the flight control computer. This led to the pilot being unable to control the plane at take-off," MINDEF said in a media release.
All F-16 fighter jets are fitted with four such gyroscopes.
The simultaneous failure of the gyroscopes is a very rare occurrence, MINDEF said, adding that this is the first such malfunction in the RSAF's entire F-16 fleet.
The RSAF, together with manufacturer Lockheed Martin, will conduct further studies to determine the specific causes of the gyroscope malfunction that resulted in the crash at Tengah Air Base.
Singapore's F-16 fleet will resume flying, said MINDEF.
"But as an added precaution, each F-16 pitch rate gyroscope will be checked and cleared before resumption of flights," it added.
The F-16 jet crashed at Tengah Air Base shortly after taking off on May 8. The pilot successfully ejected from the aircraft and did not suffer major injuries.
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"The flight data recorder recovered from the crashed F-16 showed that its pitch rate gyroscopes gave erroneous inputs to the flight control computer. This led to the pilot being unable to control the plane at take-off," MINDEF said in a media release.
All F-16 fighter jets are fitted with four such gyroscopes.
The simultaneous failure of the gyroscopes is a very rare occurrence, MINDEF said, adding that this is the first such malfunction in the RSAF's entire F-16 fleet.
The RSAF, together with manufacturer Lockheed Martin, will conduct further studies to determine the specific causes of the gyroscope malfunction that resulted in the crash at Tengah Air Base.
Singapore's F-16 fleet will resume flying, said MINDEF.
"But as an added precaution, each F-16 pitch rate gyroscope will be checked and cleared before resumption of flights," it added.
The F-16 jet crashed at Tengah Air Base shortly after taking off on May 8. The pilot successfully ejected from the aircraft and did not suffer major injuries.
Continue reading...