Pilot Apologizes For Spy Plane Crash

He Ejected Safely But Four Injured On Ground In South Korea

(AP)  An American pilot whose U-2 spy plane crashed in South Korea and injured four Korean people on the ground apologized on Monday for the accident.

"I am deeply sorry for injuries, damage, or suffering caused by this accident for anyone on the ground," said the Air Force pilot, who was not identified in the statement. The crash happened on Sunday.

The pilot ejected safely from the plane before it crashed and was treated for minor injuries. He said in the statement that he did everything he could to keep the plane from hitting a densely populated area.

U.S. military officials said the pilot belonged to the 5th reconnaissance squadron at Osan Air Base, southeast of Seoul.

The plane crashed in Hwasung, about 30 miles south of Seoul. The U.S. Air Force said an investigation was underway to find out the cause of the accident.

The crash came amid rising opposition to the American troop presence in South Korea following the acquittals in a U.S. military court of two Army soldiers whose vehicle accidentally hit and killed two local schoolgirls in June.

Brig. Gen. Mark Beesley, vice commander of 7th Air Force, visited the injured locals at the hospitals on Monday.

The U-2 operates at an altitude of more than 70,000 feet, beyond the range of most surface-to-air missiles. North Korea frequently complains about U.S. surveillance of the communist country.

In August, two U.S. Army pilots died when their Apache helicopter crashed into a hillside during a night training flight.

The United States keeps about 37,000 troops in South Korea, which shares the world's most heavily militarized border with North Korea.