The South Korean Army suspended unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) flights and launched an investigation on Tuesday into the cause of a drone crashing into a parked military helicopter at an airfield in Gyeonggi.
A UAV attempting to land on the runway of an aviation battalion at an Army base in Yangju, Gyeonggi, crashed into a Surion utility helicopter (KUH-1) that was parked at the airfield, igniting a fire at 1:05 p.m. Monday, according to the Army Ground Operations Command and fire authorities.
The helicopter burst into flames, which took about 20 minutes to extinguish, but both aircraft were destroyed due to the onboard aviation fuel.
“There were no casualties from the fire, and the exact cause of the accident and the full extent of the damage are still under investigation,” said a military official on Monday.
The crashed UAV was a Heron, imported from Israel, with a length of 8.5 meters (27.9 feet), a wingspan of 16.6 meters and a maximum speed of 207 kilometers (128.6 miles) per hour. It conducts reconnaissance from an altitude of 10 kilometers. The military acquired three Heron drones and a ground control system for about 40 billion won ($2.08 million) in 2016, with each drone costing approximately 3 billion won. The destroyed Surion helicopter was worth around 20 billion won.
Of the three Heron drones in the military’s possession, one crashed near Yangju last November due to North Korean GPS jamming, while another has been out of operation due to maintenance issues.
“The military operates various surveillance and reconnaissance assets, so there is no issue with border security operations,” said a military official.
The crash comes less than two weeks after two KF-16 fighter jets accidentally bombed a village in Pocheon, Gyeonggi, during a training exercise, injuring multiple people. The incident was caused by a pilot entering incorrect target coordinates.
A directive suspending UAV operations under the Ground Operations Command was issued Tuesday. The military is investigating all possible causes of the drone crash, including operational errors, though takeoff and landing procedures for the Heron are reportedly automated.
BY KIM MIN-YOUNG [kim.minyoung5@joongang.co.kr]
