A parachute is seen hanging on a tree at a mountain in Yangpyeong, 45 kilometers east of Seoul, where a Korean KF-16C fighter jet crashed due to an engine abnormality during a flight mission the previous day, with its pilot having safely escaped, Nov. 21. Yonhap

The Korean Air Force on Friday attributed last month's crash of a KF-16C fighter jet to a maintenance error that led to the abrasion of a fuel pump part and an engine stoppage.

Wrapping up a monthlong investigation, the armed service said that the crash on Nov. 20 was ascribed to a failure by maintenance staff to lock a nut ― used to fixate the drive shaft of the engine fuel pump ― during maintenance work in 2010.

The absence of the nut caused the abrasion of a cogwheel on the drive shaft, which blocked the normal transfer of fuel to the engine.

The Air Force plans to conduct special inspections on the same engines installed in fighter jets to see if there is any such problem.

It is considering seeking disciplinary action as well as legal punishments against the maintenance staff, officials said.

The single-engine jet of the 19th Fighter Wing crashed in a mountainous area, about 20 kilometers west of an air base in Wonju, some 85 km east of Seoul. Its pilot ejected safely. (Yonhap)