Gwangju fire service helicopter crash

The Gwangju fire service helicopter crash was an accident at 10:13 on 17 July 2014 in Jangdeok-dong, Gwangsan District, Gwangju, South Korea, in which a Eurocopter AS365 Dauphin (AS365 N3) helicopter belonging to the Gangwon Province Special Rescue Unit, which was returning after finishing support at the site of the Sewol ferry sinking, crashed. 5 firefighting officials of the Gangwon Fire Headquarters died in the line of duty in the accident, and 1 civilian was injured.

Cause of the accident

While in climbing straight flight, right pedal was input for an unknown reason, and the aircraft crashed due to an unrecoverable right bank and steep dive. The pilots failed to observe the instruments before the aircraft's attitude changed abruptly, and because of this they were unable to stop the aircraft's right bank early. In addition, the pilots performed instrument flight while in a state in which they could not perform instrument flight because they had not met the required training hours, and the command of the air rescue unit of the Gangwon Fire Headquarters was inadequate. The accident site was densely surrounded by nearby high-rise apartments, a commercial area, a school and studio apartments, so it very nearly led to a second major disaster following the Sewol ferry sinking. A high-school girl surnamed Park, who was at a nearby bus stop, quickly ran away and was injured by being struck by helicopter debris, but fortunately it was confirmed that her life was not in danger.