Environment Corporation Employee Dies After Being Struck by Falling Drone During Air Quality Measurement

60kg Drone Crash at Jeonju Factory
Accident Occurred While Drone Company Employee Was Operating It

Jeonbuk Police Agency building. Photo by Asia Economy DB

An employee of the Korea Environment Corporation, who was performing air quality measurement work at a factory in Jeonju, Jeonbuk, was killed in an accident after being struck by a falling drone.

According to the Jeonbuk Police Agency and other sources on August 28, at around 11:02 a.m. that day, a man in his 40s, identified as A, was transported to the hospital in a state of cardiac arrest after the incident at a factory in Palbok-dong, Deokjin-gu, Jeonju, but ultimately passed away.

A, an employee of the Korea Environment Corporation under the Ministry of Environment, was working to measure air quality by climbing a smokestack approximately 50 meters high when the accident occurred. It was determined that a drone, which was in flight above him, fell toward him. The drone, weighing about 60 kilograms and operated by an employee of a drone company, crashed after its wing struck the smokestack.

The police are investigating the exact circumstances of the accident.