The island republic will resume flying its F-16 fleet after suspending training when one of the jets crashed earlier this month, the defence ministry said.
The May 8 crash was due to the plane’s pitch rate gyroscopes giving erroneous inputs to the flight control computer, it added.
“This led to the pilot being unable to control the plane at take-off,” the statement said. The pilot ejected successfully.
F-16 fighter jets are fitted with four such gyroscopes.
A simultaneous failure is a very rare occurrence and a first for Singapore’s fleet, the ministry said.
It added that all pitch rate gyroscopes will be checked and cleared before flights resume, and that the air force and F-16 manufacturer Lockheed Martin will look into the specific cause behind the malfunction.
The May crash went down during a night training mission in the US state of Arizona, killing the 25-year-old pilot, according to local media CNA. — Reuters
