An F-16 Fighting Falcon assigned to the 35th Fighter Squadron performs defensive maneuvers during the Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise in South Korea, Aug. 20, 2025. (Landon Gunsauls/U.S. Air Force)

CAMP HUMPHREYS, South Korea — An Air Force F-16C Fighting Falcon that crashed off South Korea’s western coast last year went down after an engine stall caused by hardware failure, according to Pacific Air Forces’ investigation.

The jet took off from Kunsan Air Base at 8 a.m. Jan. 31, 2024, for a routine training mission that included midair refueling from a KC-46 Pegasus over the Yellow Sea, said the Aug. 22 report.

The fighter and three other F-16Cs in the formation were assigned to the 35th Fighter Squadron, 8th Fighter Wing, based at Kunsan, about 115 miles south of Seoul.

Roughly 30 minutes into the flight, the F-16C received 1,700 pounds of fuel from the KC-46 when the pilot “heard a loud bang” inside the aircraft, according to the report. Witnesses saw black smoke coming from the engine exhaust, and flashes appeared from the jet’s nose and tail.

The pilot disengaged from the tanker, and the engine stalled and could not be restarted, the report said. Instrument readings were unreliable, displaying “multiple failure indications.”

The nearest airfield, Seosan Air Base, was about 74 miles east. Investigators determined the jet could glide only about 35 miles without power, leaving no chance for a safe landing.

This debris was recovered from the Air Force F-16C Fighting Falcon that crashed into the Yellow Sea on Jan. 31, 2024. (U.S. Air Force)

The pilot ejected at 2,000 feet, according to the report. A South Korean coast guard helicopter from Seosan rescued him 35 miles west of the base at 9:17 a.m., 36 minutes after the aircraft crashed into the sea. He was treated for hypothermia at Humphreys, about 35 miles east of Seosan.

Small pieces of debris were recovered, but the $25.8 million jet’s airframe was not found, the report said.

Investigators were unable to pinpoint the exact cause of the stall without flight data but ruled out weather and maintenance issues.

Conditions were clear at the time, inspections were current, and the jet had logged about 8,260 operating hours, the report said. The pilot had nearly 2,100 flight hours, including more than 1,350 in the F-16C.

The mishap was one of three F-16C crashes in South Korea between May 6, 2023, and January 2024. Investigators attributed the first to bad weather and loss of electrical power, while the second, seven months later, was blamed on a navigation system failure and adverse weather.