Cause of Army Drone and Helicopter Collision Accident Identified as 'Sudden Gust'

Early Introduction of Ground-Level Gust Warning System and Other Measures to Prevent Recurrence

The cause of last month's collision accident between the Army's unmanned reconnaissance drone 'Heron' and the helicopter 'Surion' was found to be a 'gust of wind,' not human error or a GPS attack from the North.

On the 9th, the Army announced regarding the Heron-Surion collision accident that occurred on the 17th of last month, "It has been confirmed that the accident occurred due to external factors such as a sudden ascent of the aircraft caused by the first gust of wind during the drone (Heron)'s emergency automatic landing process, and the second gust of wind and crosswind just before landing on the runway."

Yonhap News

Earlier, around 1 p.m. on the 17th of last month, at a military airfield located in Yangju, Gyeonggi Province, a Heron drone returning from a reconnaissance mission suddenly changed direction and collided with a Surion helicopter parked on the ground. Both aircraft were completely destroyed in the accident. The fire was extinguished within about 20 minutes, and no casualties occurred.

In response, the Army formed a Central Accident Committee chaired by the Deputy Chief of Army Intelligence from the 17th of last month and conducted a thorough investigation into the cause and circumstances of the accident by reviewing flight information recordings, CCTV footage from the airfield, and analyzing flight data.

As a result, no issues such as human error, equipment defects, maintenance system problems, or military discipline lapses were identified. It was confirmed that the accident occurred due to external factors including a sudden ascent caused by the first gust of wind during the drone's emergency automatic landing process, and the second gust of wind and crosswind just before landing on the runway.

The Army has decided to implement preventive measures to avoid accidents caused by gusts of wind in the future. An Army official stated, "We will make multifaceted efforts to prevent recurrence, including the early installation of a ground-level sudden wind warning system and the installation of nets to prevent UAVs from entering helicopter parking areas within military airfields."