By Bernama
Seoul : A surveillance aircraft crashed on an eastern mountain early Monday but the plane’s two pilots ejected safely, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported.
“An RF-4C aircraft disappeared from the radar at around 9:40 a.m.,” an Air Force official said, adding that contact was last made just east of Wonju, Gangwon Province.
Introduced into the country’s Air Force in the late 1980s, the photographic reconnaissance version of the F-4 Phantom fighter jet was on a training mission, the official said.
“The crashed aircraft took off at 9:15 a.m. from its home base in Suwon and was on a training mission in the accident area,” the Air Force said in a press release.
Both of the pilots on board ejected just before the crash and have been confirmed safe, according to the official.
One of the pilots, a 1st lieutenant identified only by his surname Ryu, only suffered minor injuries on the face while the other, a captain, was rescued from the top of a tree.
Both of the pilots were taken to a nearby hospital for treatment. No civilian casualties have been reported, according to the Air Force.
“The Air Force have secured the crash site to find out the exact cause of the accident,” the official said.