South Korea to resume P-3CK flights after 2025 fatal crash grounding

More than a year after a fatal crash grounded its fleet, South Korea's navy is preparing to resume flights of its Lockheed P-3CK Orion maritime patrol aircraft.

The crash happened on 29 May 2025, when a P-3CK went down on a mountain near Pohang in daylight and clear weather, killing all four crew members aboard. Afterward, the navy grounded its remaining seven P-3CKs along with eight P-3Cs.

Investigators could not determine a definitive cause of the crash, South Korea's navy said, as cited by the Yonhap news agency. The aircraft did not carry a flight data recorder, and its cockpit voice recorder was too damaged to yield usable information. Even so, the navy has said it believes an aerodynamic stall may have been responsible, noting that the aircraft had no in-flight stall warning system installed.

The P-3Cs returned to service in the months following the crash. The P-3CKs are now set to resume operations after a round of test flights, following inspections of the wider fleet that involved the US Navy, a former operator of the type, along with maintenance contractors.

Aviation analytics firm Cirium puts the average age of South Korea's remaining P-3 fleet at roughly 44.6 years.

The move comes as Seoul works to expand its anti-submarine warfare capabilities amid concerns over Chinese and North Korean submarine activity. The navy began operating six new Boeing P-8A Poseidon aircraft in July 2025 and is seeking to acquire six more maritime patrol aircraft. Separately, the US government in May cleared a potential sale of 24 additional Sikorsky MH-60R helicopters to South Korea, which would supplement its existing fleet of MH-60Rs and Leonardo helicopters.