Four killed in South Korean navy patrol plane crash
The navy has set up a task force to investigate the crash and temporarily grounded its P-3 patrol planes.
A South Korean navy plane has crashed during a training flight, killing all four crew members on board, the navy said.
The P-3 patrol plane took off from its base in the city of Pohang at 1.43pm and crashed due to unknown reasons, the navy said in a statement. It said it had identified the bodies of the four crew members and was in the process of recovering them.
There were no immediate reports of civilian casualties on the ground. The navy set up a task force to investigate the crash and temporarily grounded its P-3s.
An emergency office in Pohang said that rescuers and fire trucks were dispatched to the site after receiving reports from residents that an aircraft crashed on a hill near a block of flats and caused a fire.
Photos showed firefighters and emergency vehicles near the crash site with flames as smoke engulfed trees. Fire crews sprayed water on what appeared to be the aircraft debris.
In December, a Jeju Air passenger plane crashed at Muan International Airport in southern South Korea, killing all but two of the 181 people on board.
