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No sign of survivors from crashed South Korean Airbus chopper with seven on board
The Airbus H225 Super Puma aircraft operated by South Korea’s fire department was carrying an injured sailor to hospital when it crashed shortly after takeoff from Dokdo, officials at Gyeongbuk Fire Service Headquarters said.
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This handout photo taken on November 1, 2019 and provided by the Korea Coast Guard shows rescue members searching for missing people after a helicopter crashed into the sea near the Dokdo islets, known as Takeshima in Japan. Seven South Koreans were missing on November 1 after their helicopter took off from islets disputed with Japan and crashed into the sea moments later, Seoul officials said.
(AFP/Korea Coast Guard)
S
outh Korean rescue services have found no sign of seven people missing after an Airbus helicopter crashed into the sea off the disputed islets of Dokdo late on Thursday, officials said.
The Airbus H225 Super Puma aircraft operated by South Korea’s fire department was carrying an injured sailor to hospital when it crashed shortly after takeoff from Dokdo, officials at Gyeongbuk Fire Service Headquarters said.
The defense ministry said on Friday it had sent vessels, planes and divers to scour the ocean for any sign of the seven people, so far without success. A suspected piece of the helicopter had been found, Yonhap News Agency said.
The helicopter went into service in 2016 and was crewed by two veteran pilots, Yonhap said. Also on board were three fire department responders, the patient and another person.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in ordered safety checks on H225 choppers, one of which crashed off Norway in 2016 killing 13 North Sea oil workers.
That crash led to a temporary grounding of most of the global fleet and prompted Airbus SE to make design changes to gearboxes.
There were no immediate reports on what may have caused the latest accident.
“We are aware of what happened and we stand ready to support our customer and the authorities if they need further assistance,” an Airbus spokesman based in France said.
The H225 model, previously known as a Eurocopter EC-225, is a long-range, all-weather, search-and-rescue aircraft.
