5 die in chopper crash in Gangwon

A helicopter crashed into a mountain in Yangyang County, Gangwon on Sunday morning, killing five people on board. [YONHAP]

Five people died in a helicopter crash in Yangyang County, Gangwon on Sunday.

Officials from the Gangwon provincial government told local reporters that a helicopter crashed into a mountain in Yangyang County, about 150 kilometers (93 miles) northeast of Seoul, at around 10:50 a.m., killing all five people on board.

The deceased were a 71-year-old captain, a 54-year-old co-pilot, a mechanic in his 20s and two women.

The captain and co-pilot were on a mission by the Sokcho city government in Gangwon to use the helicopter to look for potential wildfires in the area and warn residents to be careful about starting one through announcements.

Sokcho is just north of Yangyang.

The Aviation and Railway Accident Investigation Board is expected to investigate whether the crash was due to a technical glitch or negligence by the captain.

The wind speed was 1.2 meters per second (2.68 miles per hour), which officials said was safe enough to fly a helicopter.

Authorities on Sunday said they have yet to figure out who the two women were.

When the captain informed Sokcho officials that he was leaving for his mission on Sunday morning, he said that he would be boarding the helicopter with his co-pilot only, according to Sokcho officials.

In its early announcements about the crash, the Sokcho city government said two people died, thinking only two people were in the chopper.

The figure was later upped to five when all the bodies were found at the scene.

According to Sokcho officials, the helicopter left Sokcho at around 9:30 a.m. on Sunday and flew towards Yangyang County. It crashed into a mountain nearly an hour and 30 minutes after liftoff.

The helicopter is believed to have burst into flames immediately after crashing, said Sokcho officials. The fire spread to nearby trees and was fully extinguished by firefighters about 20 minutes later.

Two corpses were discovered shortly later. Three more were found at around 1 p.m. as rescue officials combed through the area.

There were several explosions after the chopper crashed, at one point causing a window in a house 10 meters (32.8 feet) away to shatter.

One resident who spoke to the JoongAng Ilbo on Sunday said she heard an announcement from the helicopter warning about wildfires, and then a huge crashing sound two to three seconds later.

“I saw black smoke billowing from the location where the helicopter crashed,” she said. “I called 119 [firefighters] right away.”

Another resident said she heard three consecutive explosive sounds. She looked behind her house into the woods and saw thick black smoke.

“My husband tried to go to save the passengers but couldn’t go in because it kept exploding.”

BY CHOI JONG-KWON, LEE SUNG-EUN [lee.sungeun@joongang.co.kr]