Seoul - Search teams found wreckage in the sea off South Korea that local media reports said was from an Asiana Airlines cargo plane that crashed on Thursday with a pilot and co-pilot aboard.
Jeju Coast Guard spokesperson Choi Kyu-mo said four ships and a helicopter were searching the wreckage west of the southern resort island of Jeju, though he couldn't confirm that the debris was from the Asiana plane.
Yonhap News Agency earlier cited the coast guard as saying one of its patrol boats had found debris from the aircraft operated by Asiana, South Korea's second-largest flagship carrier, in waters about 100km west of Jeju city.
The plane had reportedly left from South Korea's Incheon International Airport and was bound for Pudong in China.
Asiana officials got a report early on Thursday morning from the pilot that the Boeing-747, which was southwest of Jeju, was having mechanical difficulties and would try to make its way to the island's airport, Jason Kim, a spokesperson for Asiana Airlines, said.
Officials then lost contact with the plane, which carried a pilot and co-pilot, and asked the Coast Guard to investigate, Kim said. The airline also sent its own emergency specialists to the area.
Kim said he had seen media reports about the crash but was waiting for a final investigative report from the Coast Guard and Asiana officials at the site before confirming anything.
South Korea has been lashed with extraordinarily heavy rain this week, with landslides and floods killing dozens and causing havoc. But Kim said it was unclear whether the weather had caused any problems for the plane.
Choi said there was no rain in the area but stronger-than-normal wind.
North and South Korea are in a tense military standoff across their heavily armed border, but there was nothing to immediately indicate that the crash had any military connection.
Asiana Airlines was in the news recently when two South Korean marines fired rifles at an Asiana plane carrying 119 people last month.
South Korea's military later apologised, saying the marines mistook the plane for a North Korean military aircraft. The military said it planned to strengthen training so troops can better distinguish civilian planes. Officials said the plane wasn't in range of the rifle fire. - Sapa-AP