The plane crashed during landing in South Korea, 179 people died – Milli
A passenger plane skidded off the runway at a South Korean airport on Sunday, crashed into a concrete fence, and the front landing gear failed to open and burst into flames. All but two of the 181 people on board were killed in one of the nation’s worst aviation disasters.
The Jeju Air plane crashed while landing in the town of Muan, about 290 kilometers south of Seoul. The Ministry of Transport said the plane was a 15-year-old Boeing 737-800 from Bangkok and that the accident happened at 9:03 am.
According to South Korea’s firefighting agency, a total of 179 people died in the fire, 85 women, 84 men and 10 whose gender could not be determined immediately. Emergency personnel pulled two people, both crew members, to safety. Health officials said they were conscious and not in danger.
Officials have so far identified 88 of the 177 bodies found so far, the fire agency said. The passengers were mostly South Koreans, as well as two Thai nationals. Thailand’s foreign ministry said its embassy in Seoul had received confirmation from South Korean officials that two Thai passengers were among the dead.
The fire department involved 32 fire engines and several helicopters to fight the fire. According to the information of the Fire Protection Agency and the Ministry of Transport, about 1570 firefighters, police officers, soldiers and other officials were sent to the scene.
Footage of the crash, broadcast by South Korean television channels, showed the plane skidding across the runway at high speed, landing gear still attached, exiting the runway and crashing head-on into a concrete wall outside the facility. explosion. Other local TV channels broadcast footage showing thick plumes of black smoke rising from the plane engulfed in flames.
Muan Fire Station Chief Lee Jeong-hyeon said in a televised briefing that the plane was completely destroyed, with only the tail part visible among the wreckage. Lee said crews are investigating various possibilities for what caused the crash, including a bird strike.
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Transport ministry officials later said their initial assessment of communications records showed the airport’s control tower had alerted the plane about to land of a bird strike and cleared the pilot to land elsewhere. Officials said the pilot overshot the end of the runway and passed through the buffer zone before hitting the wall, triggering a distress signal.
Joo Jong-wan, a senior official at the Ministry of Transport, said staff had obtained flight data from the plane’s black box and cockpit voice recorders, which would be examined by government experts investigating the causes of the crash and fire. He said it could take months for investigators to complete their investigation. The Ministry informed that the runway at Muan Airport will be closed until January 1.
Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra expressed his deepest condolences to the families of those affected by the incident in his post on the social media platform.
Thailand Airports Director Kerati Kijmanawat confirmed in a statement that Jeju Air flight 7C 2216 departed from Suvarnabhumi Airport without any reports of abnormal conditions on board or on the runway.
In a statement, Jeju Air apologized “deeply” for the accident and said it would “do its best to manage the consequences of the accident.”
At a televised press conference, Jeju Air President Kim E-bae bowed to other top company officials as he apologized to the bereaved families and said he felt “full responsibility” for the incident. Kim said the company had found no mechanical problems with the plane after regular inspections, and that he would await the results of government investigations into the cause of the incident.
Family members wept as officials announced the names of some of the victims in a lounge at Muan airport.
In a statement on Boeing X, it said it has contacted Jeju Air and is ready to support the company regarding the accident.
“We offer our deepest condolences to the bereaved families and our thoughts are with the passengers and crew,” Boeing said.
The incident comes as South Korea is embroiled in a major political crisis following President Yoon Suk-yeol’s imposition of shock martial law and subsequent impeachment. Last Friday, South Korean lawmakers impeached and suspended Acting President Han Duck-soo, prompting Deputy Prime Minister Choi Sang-mok to take over.
Choi, who visited the area in Muan, urged authorities to use all possible resources to find the missing and identify the victims as soon as possible. The government has declared Muan a special disaster zone to provide aid to the victims’ families and has ordered a week-long period of national mourning until Saturday.
Yoon’s office said his chief secretary, Chung Jin-suk, led an emergency meeting of senior presidential officials to discuss the accident and passed the details on to Choi. Yoon expressed his condolences to the victims in a Facebook post.
The Muan crash is one of the deadliest disasters in South Korean aviation history. South Korea last suffered a major air disaster in 1997, when a Korean Airlines plane crashed in Guam, killing all 228 people on board. In 2013, an Asiana Airlines plane made an emergency landing in San Francisco, killing 3 people and injuring about 200 people.
Sunday’s incident was also one of the worst landing accidents since July 2007 when an Airbus A320 skidded off a slippery runway in Sao Paulo and crashed into a nearby building, killing all 187 people on board and 12 on the ground. compiled by the Flight Safety Foundation, a non-profit group dedicated to improving air safety. In 2010, 158 people were killed when an Air India Express overran the runway and plunged into a ravine in Mangalore, India. World leaders expressed their condolences as South Korea dealt with the tragedy.
During the Angelus prayer in St. Peter’s Square in Rome, Pope Francis said he joined “the prayer for the survivors and the dead.” Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said in a message released by Tokyo’s Foreign Ministry that he was “deeply saddened by the loss of so many precious people.” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on X that “every life lost is an immeasurable tragedy” and that he offered his “heartfelt condolences” on behalf of the Ukrainian people and himself.
— Bobby Caina Calvan, Chalida Ekvitthayavechnukul, Jintamas Saksornchai, Marie Yamaguchi and Giada Zampano with files from The Associated Press
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