On July 17 2014, a fire helicopter belonging to the Gangwon Province Fire Department, which was returning from supporting activities for the Sewol Ferry disaster, crashed in the city center due to the pilot's negligence.

The accident occurred at approximately 10:52 on July 17, and it suddenly crashed 4 minutes after taking off from Gwangju Airport after completing the search. The Republic of Korea Air Force's 1st Fighter Wing, which was in charge of air traffic control, said that the accident helicopter flew lower than the scheduled flight altitude and crashed while attempting to climb.

(Meanwhile, the area of the accident site is the Suwan district, a new residential area in Gwangju, where apartments and schools are concentrated, so some witnesses speculated that the pilot may have caused the crash to fall on the sidewalk next to the first lane of the road rather than toward the apartment or school to prevent casualties.)