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A passenger plane skidded off a runway at a South Korean airport on Sunday, slammed into a concrete fence and burst into flames after its front landing gear apparently failed to deploy. All but two of the 181 people on board died in one of the country’s worst aviation disasters.
The Jeju Air plane crashed on landing in the city of Muan, about 290 kilometers south of Seoul. The transport ministry said the plane was a 15-year-old Boeing 737-800 jet that had arrived from Bangkok and that the accident happened at 9:03 a.m.
A total of 179 people – 85 women, 84 men and 10 others whose genders were not immediately identified – died in the fire, South Korean fire officials said. The emergency services pulled two people, both crew members, to safety. Health officials said they are conscious and not in life-threatening condition.
Among the 177 bodies found so far, officials have so far identified 88 of them, the fire department said. The passengers were mainly South Koreans, as well as two Thai nationals. Thailand’s foreign ministry said its embassy in Seoul had received confirmation from South Korean authorities that the two Thai passengers were among the dead.
The fire department deployed 32 fire engines and several helicopters to contain the fire. About 1,570 firefighters, police officers, soldiers and other officials were also sent to the scene, according to the fire department and the Ministry of Transport.
Footage of the crash broadcast by South Korean television channels showed the plane skidding across the airstrip at high speed, apparently with its landing gear still closed, overrunning the runway and crashing head-on into a concrete wall at the edge of the facility, causing an explosion. Other local TV stations showed images showing thick plumes of black smoke billowing from the plane, which was engulfed in flames.
Lee Jeong-hyeon, chief of the Muan fire station, told a television briefing that the plane was completely destroyed, with only the tail assembly recognizable under the wreckage. Lee said workers were looking into several possibilities as to what caused the crash, including whether the plane was hit by birds, Lee said.
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Transport Ministry officials later said their early review of communications records showed the airport control tower alerted the plane of a bird strike shortly before it intended to land and gave its pilot permission to land in another area. The pilot sent out an emergency signal shortly before the plane overshot the end of the runway and skidded over a buffer zone before hitting the wall, the officials said.
Senior Transport Ministry official Joo Jong-wan said workers retrieved the flight data and cockpit voice recorders from the plane’s black box, which will be examined by government experts who will determine the cause of ‘ e crash and fire investigation. He said it could take months for investigators to complete their investigation. The runway at Muan airport will be closed until January 1, the ministry said.
Thailand’s Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra expressed deep condolences to the families of those affected by the incident in a post on social media platform X. Paetongtarn said she ordered the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to immediately provide assistance to give.
Kerati Kijmanawat, Thailand’s director of airports, confirmed in a statement that Jeju Air flight 7C 2216 departed from Suvarnabhumi Airport with no reports of abnormal conditions with the plane or on the runway.
Jeju Air expressed its “deepest apologies” for the accident in a statement and said it will “do its best to manage the aftermath of the accident.”
In a televised news conference, Kim E-bae, the president of Jeju Air, bowed deeply with other senior company officials as he apologized to injured families and said he feels “full responsibility” for the incident. Kim said the company had not identified any mechanical problems with the plane after regular checks 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 victims in a lounge at Muan Airport.
Boeing said in a statement on X that it was in contact with Jeju Air and is ready to support the company in dealing with the accident.
“We extend our deepest condolences to the families who lost loved ones, and our thoughts remain with the passengers and crew,” Boeing said.
The incident came as South Korea has been embroiled in a huge political crisis triggered by President Yoon Suk Yeol’s striking imposition of martial law and subsequent impeachment. Last Friday, South Korean lawmakers announced acting President Han Duck-soo and suspended his duties, leading Deputy Prime Minister Choi Sang-mok to take over.
Choi, who traveled to the site in Muan, called on officials to use all available means to find the missing and identify the victims as soon as possible. The government declared Muan a special disaster zone to provide aid to the families of victims and designated a week-long national mourning period until Saturday.
Yoon’s office said his chief secretary, Chung Jin-suk, chaired an emergency meeting of senior presidential staff to discuss the accident and reported the details to Choi. Yoon expressed condolences for the victims in a Facebook post.
The Muan crash is one of the deadliest disasters in South Korea’s aviation history. The last time South Korea suffered a large-scale air disaster was in 1997, when a Korean Airline plane crashed in Guam, killing 228 people on board. In 2013, an Asiana Airlines plane crashed in San Francisco, killing three and injuring around 200.
Sunday’s incident was also one of the worst landing accidents since a July 2007 crash that killed all 187 people on board and 12 others on the ground when an Airbus A320 skidded off a slippery airstrip in Sao Paulo and crashed with a nearby building, according to data compiled by the Flight Safety Foundation, a nonprofit group dedicated to improving air safety. In 2010, 158 people died when an Air India Express plane skidded off a runway in Mangalore, India, and crashed into a ravine before bursting into flames, according to the safety foundation. World leaders expressed their sympathies as South Korea dealt with the tragedy.
During his Angelus prayer in St. Peter’s Square in Rome, Pope Francis said he joins in “prayer for the survivors and the dead.” Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said he was “deeply saddened by the loss of many precious lives” in a message released through Tokyo’s foreign ministry. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on X that “every life lost is an immeasurable tragedy” and that he extends his “heartfelt condolences” on behalf of the Ukrainian people and himself.
– With files from the Associated Press’ Bobby Caina Calvan, Chalida Ekvitthayavechnukul, Jintamas Saksornchai, Mari Yamaguchi and Giada Zampano
& copy 2024 The Canadian Press
