According to Yonhap News, the incident occurred around 3:10 p.m. on May 23, when a DA40NG training aircraft went down in a wooded area near Seokgye-ri in Haenam County.
At the time of the crash, the aircraft was carrying a student in their 20s, identified as A, and an instructor, also in their 20s, identified as B. Both were rescued shortly after the accident and transported to a hospital. A was reported to be conscious, while B was reportedly unconscious at the time of rescue.
Fire authorities stated that one wing of the aircraft was severely damaged during the crash, but no fire broke out.
The aircraft took off from Muan International Airport at approximately 2:40 p.m. and was headed to Sanibi Airfield in Haenam, about 40 kilometers away in a straight line, when the accident occurred.
The DA40NG is a four-seat training aircraft manufactured by an Austrian company, and only the instructor and student were on board at the time of the incident.
The Aviation and Railway Accident Investigation Committee plans to investigate the cause of the crash, examining potential aircraft defects, weather conditions, and flight paths.
This is not the first such incident in South Jeolla Province; in 2016, a training aircraft crash resulted in fatalities. A Cirrus SR20 training aircraft, carrying a civilian pilot and two students, crashed into a field near a hill in Muan County, killing all three on board. Although the aircraft was equipped with an emergency parachute system, it reportedly did not deploy due to the rapid descent.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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