Five Killed, One Injured in South Korea Helicopter Crash

A South Korean Surion helicopter crashed at a military airport in the Southeastern city of Pohand killing five of six passengers on board.

The helicopter was on a test flight after repair when it crashed from a height of 10 meters and caught fire around 4.46 PM local time on Tuesday, the Marine Corps officials were quoted as saying by Yonhap.

Five of the six aboard were killed, and the other was taken to a hospital. The military will form an investigation committee to determine the cause of the crash, officials said.

The crashed helicopter was identified as the MUH-1, the Marine version of the KUH-1 Surion developed by Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI). The Marines received these helicopters in January this year.

The MUH-1s are the first major aircraft possessed by the 28,800-strong troops since they were integrated into the Navy in 1973. The Marines had been relying on the assets of other branches to transport its service members and equipment.

The MUH-1 is nicknamed Marineon, a combination of the words Marine and Surion.