What happened
During a flight returning to Seoul, a military transport aircraft was transporting 122 soldiers on leave along with a crew of seven. Shortly after departing, as the plane reached an altitude of approximately 1,000 feet, the pilot notified air traffic control that the third engine had failed. Following this notification, the crew was authorized to perform an emergency return to the airfield.
While executing the circuit for landing, the pilot requested additional power and deployed the flaps to their full extent. During this final approach, the aircraft type experienced a stall, leading to a crash in a field located 5.6 km before reaching the runway. The impact resulted in a massive explosion, and a subsequent fire burned through the wreckage for several hours. There were 129 fatalities among the occupants, with no survivors recorded.
Findings
Investigations into the accident identified that the third engine failed shortly after takeoff for reasons that remained undetermined. The primary factor leading to the crash was an aerodynamic stall caused by a combination of insufficient approach speed and an incorrect configuration involving fully extended flaps during the final phase of flight.