Gov't to investigate cause of the helicopter crash

Mechanics dismantle the KFS helicopter in Guri, Gyeonggi Province Sunday, and the parts will be sent to the Aviation and Railway Accident Investigation Board for a thorough analysis. The KFS helicopter crashed into the Han River Saturday, which killed one and injured two others on board. Yonhap

By Kim Hyun-bin

The government started an investigation Sunday into the crash of a firefighting helicopter the day before, which killed a mechanic and injured the pilot and copilot.

The Aviation and Railway Accident Investigation Board (ARAIB) started to examine the relatively intact wreckage of the helicopter and questioned the two survivors to establish the cause of the accident.

Many observers point to the age of the helicopter as one of the main causes ― the Russian made Kamov KA-32 was brought into service in 1997, and had been operational for over 21 years.

“It will take up to six months to find the cause of the crash,” said an ARAIB official.

The rescue services said the helicopter crashed into the Han River near Gangdong Bridge around 11:20 a.m. The pilot and copilot were able to exit the aircraft immediately prior to impact, but the mechanic was trapped in the wreckage. He was recovered an hour later after suffering from an apparent cardiac arrest.

The three were immediately taken to hospital, but the mechanic was pronounced dead on arrival.

While the helicopter is operated by the Korea Fire Services (KFS), the ARAIB is in charge of crash investigations.

The KFS says the helicopter crashed while hovering to take on water from the river to extinguish a fire on a nearby mountain.

One witness said the hovering helicopter suddenly plunged into the water.

Experts say there is a possibility the pilot could have exceeded the water load limit of the aircraft.

According to the KFS, the KA-32 model can carry up to 3,000 liters of water, however, when fully loaded flying is impeded so normally only 80 percent of the water tank is filled at a time.

In the last decade, three out of four KFS helicopter accidents were blamed on human error.

The KA-32 is the backbone of the KFS fleet and is used for putting out forest fires, preventing forest destruction and transporting resources. However, there have been two crashes of the aging helicopters ― in 2009 and 2017.

In May 2017, an aircraft crashed into a high tension wire during a mountain fire operation, killing all three onboard; while in 2009 a helicopter crashed into the water during a fire prevention exercise.

The KFS says the 2009 crash was due to pilot error; while the reason behind last year's accident has not been made public yet.