Singapore, Jun 20 (IANS): Engineers of Singapore Air Force will periodically test gyroscope assemblies on F-16 jet fighters to prevent malfunction of such components and ensure flight safety, the Defence Ministry said.

A Singaporean F-16 crashed after taking off on May 8 due to the malfunction of pitch rate gyroscopes, Xinhua news agency reported.

In the accident, the flight control computer received erroneous but similar inputs from two out of four pitch rate gyroscopes in the F-16 and rejected the correct data, according to an investigation document released by the Ministry.

The computer manoeuvred the aircraft in response to the erroneous feedback from the two degraded gyroscopes, making the pilot fail to control the jet, the document noted.

The F-16 aircraft was maintained following established protocols and the Air Force had adhered to required maintenance inspections, the investigation concluded.

F-16 producer Lockheed Martin said this was the first of such failure since F-16 first flew in 1974.