Seven South Koreans missing after helicopter crash near disputed islets
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A South Korean Naval ship patrols around remote islands called Dokdo in Korean and Takeshima in Japanese during a military exercise, on Aug 25, 2019.
PHOTO: REUTERS
SEOUL (AFP, REUTERS) - Seven South Koreans were missing on Friday (Nov 1) after their helicopter took off from islets disputed with Japan and crashed into the sea moments later, Seoul officials said.
The aircraft had just picked an injured fisherman up from Dokdo, which is known as Takeshima in Japan, when it went down on Thursday night.
The South's coast guard, members of the National Fire Agency and civilian boats were searching for survivors, while the defence ministry had also sent planes and divers to the area, a spokesman for the South's National Fire Agency told AFP.
The crashed chopper is a Eurocopter EC225, made by the European aerospace corporation Airbus.
The seven people on board were five rescuers, the fisherman and a civilian.
"The patient was on a fishing boat when he lost one of his fingers through an accident, and the crew took him to Dokdo and waited for the rescue helicopter there," the official said.
"The patient needed an immediate medical operation that could have only been done at facilities on the mainland." Seoul has controlled the islets of Dokdo in the Sea of Japan - or East Sea - since 1945, when Tokyo's brutal colonial rule on the peninsula ended, while Tokyo still claims sovereignty over them.
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.
On Aug 31, an Airbus AS350 helicopter crashed in northern Norway, killing all six people on board and prompting European regulators to order checks on recently delivered versions of some Airbus helicopters.
