An Airbus H225 rescue helicopter crashes off Korean coast: all seven people on board feared dead

An Airbus H225 Super Puma helicopter from Korean rescue services crashed into the sea, while transporting a patient to a hospital. No sign of life was detected from the seven people on board.

An Airbus helicopter belonging to South Korean fire services crashed into the sea Thursday night near Liancourt Rocks, a group of islets claimed by South Korea, and the seven occupants of the aircraft have not given any sign of life at this stage.

The Airbus H225 Super Puma was transporting a wounded sailor to a hospital and crashed shortly after taking off from Liancourt.

The aircraft, which entered service in 2016, was flown by two experienced pilots, says news agency Yonhap. Onboard were also three firefighters, the patient and another person.

At this point, no cause of the accident in South Korea is known. The H225, formerly known as the Eurocopter EC-225, is a long-range rescue aircraft capable of flying in any weather condition.

UPDATE: Divers have located the helicopter and found one body close to the wreckage.

The French BEA is sending a team to help to identify the causes of the accident.

UPDATE 2: The Korean Culture and Information Service draws our attention to the fact that we refer to “Dokdo” as “Liancourt Rocks”.

The Republic of Korea holds legislative, administrative, and judicial jurisdiction over Dokdo, and it has been established that Dokdo is Korean territory both historically and geographically, and under international law. The Republic of Korea’s sovereignty over Dokdo traces back to the 6th century when Usan-guk (the former name for Dokdo) was subjudicated by Silla, an ancient kingdom of Korea. As a temporary territorial dispute arose in the 17th century, Japan officially acknowledged that Dokdo was Korean territory in 1696. Japan also clearly reconfirmed Dokdo as Korean territory in 1877.

However, Japan had forcibly and illegally occupied Dokdo during the Russo-Japanese War in 1905 and 5 years later colonized Korea for 35 years from 1910 to 1945. Dokdo was the first Korean territory to fall victim to Japan’s pillage of the Korean Peninsula during the War. Therefore, Japan’s territorial claim over Dokdo goes squarely against the Cairo Declaration (1943), the Potsdam Declaration (1945), and the Treaty of Peace with Japan (1951).