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Selfie Attempt Caused S. Korean F-15K Mid-Air Crash

Was the F-15K crash pure pilot recklessness or a deeper failure of military culture?

APR 22·Updated APR 23

Selfie Attempt Caused S. Korean F-15K Mid-Air Crash

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Above: A South Korean Air Force F-15K fighter jet at Seoul Air Base in Seongnam, South Korea, on Oct. 17, 2025. Image credit: SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg/Getty Images

The Facts

Two South Korean Air Force F-15K fighter jets collided mid-air on Dec. 24, 2021, during a two-ship formation flight over Daegu. The incident was detailed in a report by Seoul's Board of Audit and Inspection, published Wednesday.
Flight Drama on Instagram
AeroTime
Daily Express
The collision occurred after a pilot, identified only as Major A, carried out an uncoordinated maneuver, inverting his aircraft up to 137 degrees at 578 kilometers per hour so it could be filmed. The move caused his left stabilator to strike the left wing of the other jet.
LBC
Geo News
The pilot had announced his intention to film the flight during a pre-flight briefing, as it was his final sortie before reassignment. The audit board found that in-flight photography was a widespread practice among pilots at the time.
The Jerusalem Post
RNZ
Both pilots survived without injuries, but repairs to the two aircraft cost approximately 878 million won, or roughly $620,000, covering the replacement of parts on both jets.
Pakistan Today
AeroTime
The Ministry of National Defense initially ordered the pilot to pay the full repair cost under South Korea's Accounting Personnel Responsibility Act. After he appealed, the Board of Audit and Inspection reduced his liability to 10% of the total, setting his payment at around 87 million won.
YTN (Yonhap Television News) on Youtube
The Star
The board also found that the Air Force shared responsibility for failing to strictly regulate in-flight filming, while noting that the pilot's safe return of his aircraft served as a mitigating factor. The pilot was subsequently suspended, left military service and moved to commercial airline flying.
The Jerusalem Post
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Sources Split

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The Spin

Narrative A

A fighter pilot crashed a multimillion-dollar jet because he was chasing a better selfie angle, which is exactly the kind of distraction that cell phones cause everywhere from highways to cockpits. Mobile phone use has already downed civilian aircraft in the U.S. in 2014 and 2021, and now it's taken out two F-15Ks mid-mission. No photo is worth a $596,000 repair bill and nearly two downed warplanes.

Eurasian Times

Narrative B

The F-15K collision wasn't just pilot recklessness — the South Korean Air Force created the conditions for it by never banning personal cameras during flights. Taking commemorative photos on final flights was a widespread, tolerated practice, and the audit board recognized that shared institutional failure. Pinning the full blame on one pilot ignores how military culture and absent regulations set the stage.