Jeju Marado Offshore Helicopter Crash Missing Coast Guard Member Found Dead in Underwater Wreckage (Comprehensive)

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Gong Byung-sun] The coast guard aviation mechanic Cha Mo (42), who went missing in the helicopter crash off Marado, Jeju, was found dead.

According to the Jeju Regional Coast Guard on the 9th, at around 11:18 a.m., the search team recovered one body presumed to be Corporal Cha from the helicopter submerged in the sea. At around 12:56 p.m., the Jeju Coast Guard received Corporal Cha's body from the Navy and planned to transport it by helicopter to a funeral home in Busan where the affiliated Coast Guard Aviation Office is located.

On the same day, the coast guard, along with a Navy vessel, conducted an underwater search for the missing person using the Surface Supplied Diving System (SSDS) technique starting at around 11:09 a.m. The SSDS technique refers to underwater activities such as rescue operations while receiving air supply from outside the water.

At around 5:15 a.m. that day, the coast guard confirmed the helicopter fuselage located about 58 meters underwater using the Navy vessel's underwater search equipment (ROV). At the time of discovery, the crashed helicopter was overturned on the seabed. The coast guard is currently conducting the recovery operation of the helicopter fuselage.

At around 1:32 a.m. the previous day, a helicopter (S-92) belonging to the Namhae Coast Guard Aviation Unit crashed in the sea about 370 km southwest of Marado, Daejeong-eup, Seogwipo-si, Jeju. Four crew members were on board. Among them, the co-pilot, the electronic warfare officer, and the mechanic died in the line of duty, and the pilot was injured.