Terrifying footage captured the moment a South Korean navy patrol plane nose-dives into the ground during a training mission, killing all four crew members on board.
The US-made Lockheed Martin P-3C Orion, went down on May 29 near the southeastern city of Pohang.
The P-3 aircraft crashed about six minutes after it left a naval base in the Nam-gu district at 1.43pm (4.43am GMT), the navy said in a statement.
The remains of the four crew members have been recovered and no civilian casualties were reported, the navy added.
Footage of the horror smash released by local media shows thick black smoke rising from the crash site, located in a forested area near Sinjeong-ri.
Mangled pieces of charred metal were seen scattered on the ground in the aftermath of the incident.
A Pohang emergency office said rescuers were dispatched after receiving reports from residents that an unidentified aircraft fell to the ground on a hill near an apartment complex and sparked a fire.
Terrifying footage captures the moment a South Korean navy patrol plane nose-dives into the ground during a training mission, killing all four crew members on board
The US-made Lockheed Martin P-3C Orion, went down on May 29 near the southeastern city of Pohang
Firefighters work at the site where a South Korean navy maritime patrol aircraft crashed on a mountain in Pohang on May 29, 2025
The US-made Lockheed Martin P-3C Orion, went down on May 29 near the southeastern city of Pohang, just seven minutes after taking off from a naval base
Mangled pieces of charred metal were seen scattered on the ground in the aftermath of the incident
Footage of the horror smash released by local media shows thick black smoke rising from the crash site, located in a forested area near Sinjeong-ri
Shortly after the devastating incident, the South Korean Navy said in a statement that the aircraft had departed at 1:43pm for a routine exercise before it ‘crashed near the base for reasons yet to be determined’.
It added that it had established a task force to investigate the cause of the crash and temporarily suspended all flights of P-3s.
Manufactured by Lockheed Martin, the platform is equipped with four turboprop engines and capable of deploying torpedoes, depth charges, and anti-ship missiles.
South Korea initially acquired eight P-3C aircraft and later added eight more upgraded P-3CK variants, modified by Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) from former US Navy P-3B airframes.
In total, sixteen aircraft have served in patrol roles across the East, West, and South Seas, with the P-3C earning a reputation as a capable ‘submarine killer.’
The Navy previously marked two decades of accident-free operations with the P-3C in 2005 and 2015.
However, the crash this week coincides with the fleet’s 30th year in service.
In 2017, a P-3CK mistakenly dropped six weapons, including Harpoon anti-ship missiles, due to crew error during a mission.
South Korean firefighters and military officers work at the scene of a South Korean navy plane’s crash in Pohang
Following the devastating incident, the South Korean Navy said in a statement that the aircraft had departed at 1:43pm for a routine exercise before it ‘crashed near the base for reasons yet to be determined’
Workers found the bodies of two crew members and were preparing to transfer them to a nearby hospital
South Korean firefighters and military officers work at the scene of a South Korean navy plane’s crash in Pohang, South Korea, Thursday, May 29, 2025
A Pohang emergency office said rescuers were dispatched after receiving reports from residents that an unidentified aircraft fell to the ground on a hill near an apartment complex and sparked a fire
The incident comes after a Jeju Air passenger plane crashed at Muan International Airport in southern South Korea in December, killing all but two of the 181 people on board.
That crash was one of the deadliest disasters in South Korea’s aviation history.
And in March, South Korean military investigators charged two Air Force pilots on with criminal negligence over an accidental bombing of a village during a training exercise, which injured at least 29 people and caused extensive property damage.
Defense Ministry investigators have confirmed that errors by the pilots when they entered coordinates into the aircraft systems were ‘direct factors’ behind the accidental bombing, the ministry’s Criminal Investigation Command said in a statement at the time.
The pilots were charged with criminal negligence causing bodily harm, the command said.