Fatal Crash: South Korean Navy Patrol Plane Goes Down During Training Flight
On May 29, 2025, a South Korean Navy P-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft crashed near the city of Pohang in the southeast during a routine training flight. The U.S.-made patrol plane took off from Pohang naval air base at 1:43 p.m. local time for takeoff-and-landing training. But six to seven minutes into the flight, it went down on a wooded hillside near Sinjeong-ri (just south of the runway). All four crew members aboard (two commissioned officers and two noncommissioned officers) were killed, and their bodies were recovered at the crash site.
The downed aircraft was a P-3CK Orion, one of eight such patrol planes operated by the South Korean Navy. Witnesses and surveillance cameras recorded the P-3 banking at low altitude and suddenly plummeting with a trail of fire. Videos from the scene showed the wreckage ablaze with thick black smoke billowing into the sky as firefighters and rescue teams worked to extinguish the fire and secure the area. A local emergency office said residents reported a loud explosion and saw the plane crash on a hillside near homes. Though miraculously, no civilians on the ground were harmed.
In a statement, the South Korean Navy said, it had “identified the four victims and noted that the cause of the crash was still unknown and under investigation”. The Navy temporarily grounded all of its remaining P-3 maritime patrol aircraft and announced it would form a task force later expanded to a joint military-civilian investigation committee to determine what happened. Officials reported that the plane’s flight data and cockpit voice recorders were being recovered for analysis, noting that radio contact had been normal until about a minute before the accident. Senior defense officials promised full support for the families and a transparent inquiry. The Ministry of National Defense also convened a meeting of key officials to examine readiness and operational protocols in the wake of the crash.
Meanwhile, the military is arranging alternative surveillance support while the P-3s are grounded, including additional patrol ships and helicopters as well as coordination with the United States (with plans to deploy a P-8A Poseidon aircraft). The P-3 Orion is a four-engine turboprop aircraft designed for long-range maritime patrol and anti-submarine warfare. This military aviation incident has raised questions about the aging patrol fleet, which marked roughly 30 years of service in 2025, and investigators are scrutinizing technical and maintenance factors to prevent any recurrence.