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CNN Sunday Morning
American Spy Plane Crashes in South Korea
Aired January 26, 2003 - 07:25 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CHARLES MOLINEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: A pilot of an American spy plane may be lucky. He bailed out safely before the plane crashed near Seoul, South Korea. On the ground, the crash set a house and car repair shop on fire; three people got hurt.
Let's get the latest on any injuries and the crash. CNN's Tom Mintier joins us from Seoul. Tom, what do we know?
TOM MINTIER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Charles.
What we know is that the Korean Ministry of Defense were the first ones to release the information about the U2 going down. Within the hour after that the Pentagon responded saying that the pilot, indeed, declared an emergency, and then ejected from the U2 and was injured when he hit the ground.
The first pictures from the scene showed a wide area of devastation. There was apparently, a fire on the ground after the crash. Local firemen put that out.
The pilot, no identity on him, or condition, but he was taken complaining of back problems, taken to the Iosan (ph) Military Hospital, and is in treatment there right now.
This is the third crash of the U2 in Korea since the mid-1980's. The first was in 1984, once again, near Iosan (ph) Air Base. The second one in 1992, when one crashed off the eastern coast of Korea.
In recent weeks, there has been a lot of tension in this area, and apparently the U.S. military using the U2 reconnaissance aircraft to gather information along the DMZ in North Korea. North Korea has complained about these U2 flights, saying they're a violation of their sovereignty. We saw one of the U2 come down to the ground in a rather spectacular fashion. Fortunately the pilot was able to eject, and is in a hospital tonight, and being treated by U.S. military authorities.
We will know more about the investigation as it's ongoing. There already is an investigation team on the ground. They have cordoned off the area, and have already started their probe into what brought this aircraft down -- Charles.
MOLINEAUX: Tom, anything about the U2's mission? Obviously, we're not likely to hear much, but especially visa-a-vis the current tensions there?
MINTIER: Most definitely, we probably will not hear what mission they were on, but it was clearly obvious that this aircraft was returning to base. It was just short of Iosan (ph), crashing in a area near Camp Hendricks (ph), for those who are familiar with the Korean landscape.
But what the exact details of the mission are we may never know, but it's clear that they weren't flying over Tahiti or any other place, that the DMZ and North Korea are a prime target for reconnaissance, especially during these tense times.
MOLINEAUX: OK, thank you very much, Tom Mintier in Seoul, South Korea.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired January 26, 2003 - 07:25 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CHARLES MOLINEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: A pilot of an American spy plane may be lucky. He bailed out safely before the plane crashed near Seoul, South Korea. On the ground, the crash set a house and car repair shop on fire; three people got hurt.
Let's get the latest on any injuries and the crash. CNN's Tom Mintier joins us from Seoul. Tom, what do we know?
TOM MINTIER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Charles.
What we know is that the Korean Ministry of Defense were the first ones to release the information about the U2 going down. Within the hour after that the Pentagon responded saying that the pilot, indeed, declared an emergency, and then ejected from the U2 and was injured when he hit the ground.
The first pictures from the scene showed a wide area of devastation. There was apparently, a fire on the ground after the crash. Local firemen put that out.
The pilot, no identity on him, or condition, but he was taken complaining of back problems, taken to the Iosan (ph) Military Hospital, and is in treatment there right now.
This is the third crash of the U2 in Korea since the mid-1980's. The first was in 1984, once again, near Iosan (ph) Air Base. The second one in 1992, when one crashed off the eastern coast of Korea.
In recent weeks, there has been a lot of tension in this area, and apparently the U.S. military using the U2 reconnaissance aircraft to gather information along the DMZ in North Korea. North Korea has complained about these U2 flights, saying they're a violation of their sovereignty. We saw one of the U2 come down to the ground in a rather spectacular fashion. Fortunately the pilot was able to eject, and is in a hospital tonight, and being treated by U.S. military authorities.
We will know more about the investigation as it's ongoing. There already is an investigation team on the ground. They have cordoned off the area, and have already started their probe into what brought this aircraft down -- Charles.
MOLINEAUX: Tom, anything about the U2's mission? Obviously, we're not likely to hear much, but especially visa-a-vis the current tensions there?
MINTIER: Most definitely, we probably will not hear what mission they were on, but it was clearly obvious that this aircraft was returning to base. It was just short of Iosan (ph), crashing in a area near Camp Hendricks (ph), for those who are familiar with the Korean landscape.
But what the exact details of the mission are we may never know, but it's clear that they weren't flying over Tahiti or any other place, that the DMZ and North Korea are a prime target for reconnaissance, especially during these tense times.
MOLINEAUX: OK, thank you very much, Tom Mintier in Seoul, South Korea.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
