S. Korea military finds cause of Feb. chopper crash

SEOUL, July 22 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's military on Friday said faulty parts caused the crash of the UH-1H helicopter that claimed three lives early this year.

An investigation found that the failure of the chopper's hydraulic servo valve was the main reason behind the Feb. 15 crash in Chuncheon, about 85 kilometers east of Seoul, the Army said in a briefing. At the time of the crash there were four people on board.

The servo valve, which helps pilots steer the rotary aircraft, failed and caused the chopper, which was in hover mode, to crash. It added the probe found no fault with the pilots.

As of July 21, the army finished an examination on the same parts of all other UH-1H helicopters operated by the armed forces to check if they functioned properly. It has also trained UH-1H pilots on emergency measures to take in case of problems with the hydraulic system, an Army spokesman said.

kyongae.choi@yna.co.kr
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