Rescue Helicopter Recovery Resumes After Crash in Jeju Offshore Waters

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] The salvage operation for the Coast Guard helicopter (S-92) that crashed in the waters off Jeju has resumed.

According to the Jeju Regional Coast Guard on the 10th, on the third day after the accident, work is underway to raise the helicopter fuselage from the seabed at a depth of 58 meters in the waters 370 km southwest of Marado, Seogwipo-si, Jeju.

The previous afternoon, after Navy divers installed wires on the helicopter fuselage, they attempted to lift the fuselage onto the deck using the crane of the Navy's Gwangyang ship starting at 8 p.m., but after about 40 minutes, the wire snapped and the aircraft sank back to the seabed.

The Coast Guard and Navy judged that conducting underwater work at night was dangerous, so they temporarily suspended the salvage operation and resumed it at dawn on the same day.

At around 7 a.m., an underwater search device (ROV) was deployed to confirm the helicopter fuselage, and then divers will install wires on the fuselage in the same manner as the previous day, followed by salvage using the crane.

Earlier, at 1:32 a.m. on the 8th, a helicopter belonging to the Aviation Unit of the South Sea Coast Guard crashed in international waters 370 km southwest of Marado, Daejeong-eup, Seogwipo-si, Jeju.

As a result of this accident, among the four onboard, First Officer Jeong Du-hwan (51), Mechanic Cha Ju-il (42), and Electronic Warfare Officer Hwang Hyun-jun (27) died in the line of duty, while Captain Choi Mo (47) was injured and is receiving treatment at a hospital in Jeju.

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