Authorities respond after a Navy patrol aircraft carrying four people crashed on a mountain in the southeastern port city of Pohang on May 29, 2025. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL/POHANG, South Korea, May 29 (Korea Bizwire) — All four Navy officers aboard a maritime patrol aircraft were killed after the plane crashed on a mountain in the southeastern city of Pohang on Thursday, the Navy said.
The crash occurred at around 1:49 p.m., and witnesses reported smoke rising from the mountain with sounds of explosions.
“A P-3 maritime patrol aircraft that took off at 1:43 p.m. for landing and takeoff training from an air base in Pohang crashed at a nearby location at around 1:49 p.m., due to an unspecified reason,” the Navy said.
Four people were on board — two commissioned officers and two non-commissioned officers.
The Navy said it recovered the dead bodies of all four officers. The officers’ identities have yet to be confirmed.
The aircraft was usually based at a Navy unit on the southern island of Jeju, but had flown to Pohang for training, a Navy official said.
The Navy said it has launched an investigative unit to look into further details and grounded the P-3 maritime patrol aircraft.
No civilian casualties were reported.
Acting President Lee Ju-ho was briefed on the crash by acting Defense Minister Kim Seon-ho and called for all-out efforts to rescue the passengers and prevent further damage to the surrounding environment, his office said.
The Navy operates 16 P-3 aircraft, dubbed the “submarine killer” for its anti-submarine capabilities. The first eight of the 16 aircraft, labeled the P-3C, were deployed in 1995 and another eight, renovated by the defense firm Korea Aerospace Industries Ltd. and named the P-3CK, were subsequently deployed.
The aircraft that crashed Thursday is one of the eight P-3CK aircraft in operation in Pohang and Jeju.
The recent accident marks the first known crash involving a P-3 aircraft deployed by the armed service.
(Yonhap)
