Four dead as South Korean navy plane crashes during training flight

Express Tribune

5 days ago

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A South Korean Navy aircraft crashed during a routine training mission on Thursday, killing all four crew members aboard, military officials have confirmed.
The P-3 maritime patrol plane, which took off from its base in the southeastern port city of Pohang at 13:43 local time, went down shortly thereafter for reasons that remain unknown, the Navy said in an official statement.
Emergency responders, including firefighters and rescue teams, were dispatched to the scene after local residents reported an aircraft crashing into a hillside near a residential apartment complex. The impact sparked a fire, which was later contained by crews at the site. Dramatic images from the scene showed smouldering wreckage amid scorched trees as emergency workers sprayed water over the debris.
Authorities confirmed that all four crew members were found dead and that recovery operations were underway. No civilian casualties have been reported.
In response to the crash, the Navy has established a dedicated task force to investigate the incident and has temporarily grounded all P-3 aircraft as a precaution.
This latest tragedy comes just months after a deadly commercial aviation disaster in December, when a Jeju Air passenger jet crashed while attempting to land at Muan International Airport, resulting in 179 fatalities. That incident remains one of the worst air disasters in South Korea's history.
The South Korean Navy operates a fleet of P-3 aircraft primarily for maritime surveillance and anti-submarine warfare. Investigators are now working to determine what caused the aircraft to go down in what was expected to be a routine operation.