[UPDATES] Three missing in Linx helicopter crash during joint sea exercise near border

By Park Sae-jin Posted : September 27, 2016, 09:01 Updated : September 27, 2016, 18:15

[Yonhap News Photo]


Three South Korean officers have been missing after a multi-purpose helicopter crashed into the sea during a joint drill by US and South Korean warships near the inter-Korean maritime border, military authorities said Tuesday.

The Linx helicopter crashed into deep waters off the eastern port of Yangyang at 9:05 pm (1205 GMT) Monday, eight minutes after it took off from an Aegis destroyer, the South's defense ministry said, adding the crash site is just 67 kilometers (36 miles) south of  the maritime border.

An overnight search involving naval and coastguard vessels, as well as helicopters, has been unsuccessful. Rescuers have retrieved the chopper's wrecked door and a helmet.

It was one of South Korea's 20 Linx helicopters built by Britain's Westland Helicopters. On April 15, 2010, a Linx chopper crashed off the south coast, killing four people.

The crash was reported during a rare front-line joint exercise conducted by US and South Korean warships, helicopters, surveillance planes and submarines. The US side mobilized USS Spruance, a guided-missile destroyer.

TV footages showed a joint search for a submarine, life-fire drills, and a simulated "precision" attack on designated military facilities in North Korea.

The operation was aimed at sending a strong message of determination that US and South Korean troops were ready to destroy North Korean nuclear and missile bases.

Cross-border tensions remain high due to a series of North Korean ballistic missile launches, including a submarine-launched ballistic missile on August 24. This month, Pyongyang staged an underground nuclear test and the ground test of a powerful rocket engine.

Experts in Seoul said North Korean SLBMs would pose a grave security threat to South Korea which has struggled to introduce an advanced missile shield to intercept North Korean missiles.

Aju News Lim Chang-won = cwlim34@ajunews.com
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