A devastating air crash in South Korea claimed the lives of at least 179 people on Sunday, marking the nation’s deadliest aviation disaster. The tragedy occurred at Muan International Airport when a plane failed to land properly, skidded off the runway, and exploded into flames upon colliding with a wall.
Jeju Air, under flight number 7C2216, had traveled from Bangkok carrying 175 passengers and six crew members. The incident unfolded shortly after 9am (00:00 GMT), according to South Korea’s transport ministry.
Only two crew members survived; they were extracted from the wreckage, and the fate of the remaining passengers and crew is grim, with most presumed dead.
This catastrophe is the worst air disaster involving a South Korean airline in almost thirty years, the transport ministry reports.
Captured by local media, footage showed the twin-engine Boeing 737-800 sliding down the runway without its landing gear deployed, ultimately crashing into a wall and erupting in flames and debris.
“Only the tail part retains a little bit of shape, and the rest of the plane is almost impossible to recognize,” stated Lee during a press conference.
The rescued crew members, a man and a woman, were found in the aircraft’s tail section and are receiving medical treatment for serious injuries, as reported by the local health center’s chief.
Investigations are currently focusing on potential bird strikes and adverse weather conditions as contributing factors to the crash, added Lee, with the Yonhap news agency suggesting a bird strike might have caused the landing gear failure.
Lee also mentioned that search efforts are ongoing in the vicinity for any victims ejected from the aircraft.
In the wake of the crash, distraught family members converged in the airport’s arrival hall, where emotional scenes unfolded and the Red Cross distributed blankets.
Grief was palpable as medical personnel read aloud the names of 22 victims identified through fingerprinting, prompting loud cries among the assembled families.
One anguished relative addressed the crowd, pleading for more information about his deceased brother, while another implored the media to respect their privacy, comparing their exposure to being on display like zoo animals.
Outside, mortuary vehicles were prepared to transport the deceased, and a temporary morgue was set up nearby.
Witnesses described a pungent odor of aviation fuel and blood at the crash site, where emergency teams in protective gear and military personnel conducted a thorough search.
This incident is the most severe for a South Korean airline since the 1997 Korean Air crash in Guam, which claimed over 200 lives. The deadliest prior crash on South Korean soil was a 2002 Air China accident that resulted in 129 deaths.
Following a bird strike warning from the control tower, the pilots issued a mayday call before making a desperate landing attempt, a transport ministry official reported.
A passenger managed to send a text message to a loved one indicating a bird had become lodged in the wing, ominously asking if they should say their last words, according to the News1 agency.
The flight manifest included two Thai nationals, with the rest believed to be South Korean, the transport ministry disclosed.
The aircraft, built in 2009, was powered by two CFM56-7B26 engines from CFM International, a collaboration between GE Aerospace and France’s Safran.
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In a televised address, Jeju Air’s CEO, Kim E-bae, offered a deep apology for the tragedy, emphasizing the airline’s commitment to supporting the victims’ families during this difficult time.
He reassured that the aircraft had no prior accident history and showed no signs of malfunction when it departed from Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport, as confirmed by Kerati Kijmanawat, president of Airports of Thailand.
This was the first fatal incident for Jeju Air, a budget carrier founded in 2005, which ranks third in South Korea in passenger volume behind Korean Air Lines and Asiana Airlines.
The crash occurred just three weeks after Jeju Air initiated regular service between Muan and Bangkok, among other Asian destinations, starting on December 8.
