Condolences to the families of the two ROK pilots killed in this tragic crash:
The debris of the F-15K is scattered on a mountain in Chilgok, North Gyeongsang Province, Thursday. / Yonhap
An Air Force jet crashed into a mountain in Chilgok, North Gyeongsang Province, 216 kilometers southeast of Seoul, Thursday, killing two pilots, the Air Force said.
The military initially said both ejected from the jet safely. No civilian damage was reported. The crash site is close to a golf course.
The crashed jet was an F-15K that was returning to an Air Force base in Daegu after an airstrike exercise. The crash happened at 2:47 p.m. [Korea Times]
Considering that the two pilots did not eject whatever happened, happened extremely fast before they could react and eject. Yonhap News has identified the two pilots as Capt. Choi, aged 29, and 1st Lt. Park, 27. Fortunately no civilians were killed on the ground.
Via a reader tip comes this sad news that two Soldiers from the 2nd Combat Aviation Brigade were killed in a helicopter crash near Wonju:
Firefighters search through debris of a crashed U.S. helicopter on a road in the city of Wonju, South Korea, on Monday. YONHAP via AFP – Getty Images
A U.S. military helicopter crashed in South Korea during a routine training mission Monday, killing both American pilots on board, the U.S. Army and South Korean police said.
The AH-64 Apache helicopter crashed on a road in Wonju, about 80 miles east of Seoul, a Wonju police officer said.
Two bodies recovered from the helicopter were severely damaged and officials couldn’t immediately confirm their identities. There were no reports of casualties on the ground.
The U.S. Army in South Korea later confirmed the crash, saying the cause of the accident was under investigation. [Fox News]
You can read more at the link, but condolences to the families of the pilots after this tragic crash.
It appears that Kim Jong-un’s plane may have crashed near Wonsan, but Kim was not on the plane which makes me wonder who was?
Cessna 172 Skyhawk, the type of plane that flies Kim Jong-un around North Korea.
A small North Korean plane, the same type of plane used by leader Kim Jong-un, has crashed, an official said Thursday.
The Cessna went down near the eastern port city of Wonsan, home to Kim’s special villa, on July 15, said the South Korean official familiar with the issue.
The crash was confirmed with intelligence assets of South Korea and the U.S., she said, without elaborating on the assets or the Cessna model.
She did not provide any further details of whether there were any casualties of those who were on board the doomed flight.
Kim was apparently not on board the ill-fated plane. On July 15, North Korea’s state television aired footage of Kim taking photos with participants of an ambassadors meeting in Pyongyang.
On Sunday, Kim cast a ballot in the elections to select deputies to local assemblies, which were held for the first time in four years, according to the North’s official Korean Central News Agency.
North Korea’s state media remained silent on the accident. [Yonhap]
