<Anchor> The



accident helicopter is 47 years old, so there is a possibility that it does not have a flight recorder, that is, a black box.

The number of people on board was originally reported as two, but in reality, three more people boarded, resulting in greater casualties.



Next, this is reporter Jae-geun Cho.



<Reporter>



The captain of the accident helicopter submitted a flight plan by wire to the Yangyang Airport branch office of the Seoul Regional Aviation Administration at around 8:51 am.



The flight time was 3 hours, and the number of people on board was 1 other than the captain.



[Seoul Regional Aviation Administration official: (Flight time) was scheduled for 3 hours.

((Boarding) There were only two people? One other than the captain?) Yes, that's right.

1 person.

The purpose of the flight is to monitor forest fires.]



However, five bodies were recovered from the scene of the accident, and three more than the reported number of people on board.



Three additional people were also confirmed on CCTV at the Sokcho mooring just before the helicopter took off.



The identities of two out of five have not been identified as the bodies have been severely mutilated.



A full-fledged investigation into the cause of the accident has also begun, with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport, police and firefighting conducting the first joint identification.



We plan to conduct an investigation with all possibilities open, including aircraft defects, poor maintenance, weather conditions and pilot negligence.



At the time of the accident, the Gangwon-do area was just ahead of the dry warning effect, and the wind was weak at 2.3m per second.



The accident helicopter is an S-58JT model produced in 1975 by Sikorsky, USA.



It is an old model that has been produced for 47 years. In Korea, 5 units of the same model are mainly used for forest fire fighting or cargo transportation.



It is known that FDR, a flight recorder called a black box, is not installed because it is an old model.



FDR is a device that records flight information such as flight altitude, speed, and direction of a helicopter, and contains important information for determining the cause of an accident.



The police and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport will continue to identify the scene tomorrow (28th), while also conducting a DNA investigation of the two unidentified dead.



(Video coverage: Heo Chun, Video editing: Lee Seung-jin)