SEOUL, South Korea – A passenger jet burst into flames Sunday after it skidded off the runway at a South Korean airport and crashed into a concrete barrier when its front landing gear failed to operate. Most of the 181 people on board died in one of the country’s worst aviation disasters.
The Jeju Air passenger plane crashed on landing in the city of Muan, about 290 kilometers (180 miles) south of Seoul. The Department of Transportation said that the plane was a 15-year-old Boeing 737-800 that was returning from Bangkok and the accident happened at 9:03 am.
At least 177 people – 84 women, 82 men and 11 others whose gender was not immediately identified – died in the fire, South Korean fire officials said. Emergency personnel pulled two people, both workers, to safety. Health officials said they know and are not in a life-threatening condition.
Two people are still missing almost nine hours after the incident. Among the 177 bodies found, officials have identified 57 of them, said the fire department. The passengers were mostly South Koreans, and two Thai nationals.
The fire department deployed 32 fire trucks and several helicopters to contain the fire. About 1,570 firemen, policemen, soldiers and other officials were also sent to the area, according to the firemen and the Department of Transport.
Footage of the crash broadcast by South Korean television showed a Jeju Air plane skidding through the airport at high speed, apparently with its landing gear still closed, overshooting the runway and crashing head-on into a concrete wall at the edge of the airport, causing an explosion. Some local TV stations broadcast images showing black smoke billowing from the plane engulfed in flames.
Lee Jeong-hyeon, chief of the Muan fire station, told a television news conference that the plane was completely destroyed, leaving the tail assembly in the wreckage. Lee said crews were looking into what caused the crash, including whether the plane was struck by birds, Lee said.
Transportation Department officials later said their early review of communications records showed that the airport’s control tower issued a bird strike warning shortly before it intended to land and gave its pilot permission to land at a different location. The pilot sent a distressing message just before the plane overran the runway and overshot a barrier before crashing into a wall, officials said.
Transport Ministry chief executive Joo Jong-wan said workers have retrieved flight information and cockpit records from the plane’s black box, which will be examined by government experts investigating the cause of the crash and fire. He said it could take months for investigators to complete their investigation. The runway at Muan Airport will be closed until Jan. 1, said the department.
The Ministry of Transport said the plane’s passengers included two Thai nationals. The Prime Minister of Thailand, Paetongtarn Shinawatra, expressed his deepest condolences to the families of the victims of the accident in the post office X. Paetongtarn said he ordered the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to provide immediate assistance.
Kerati Kijmanawat, director of Airports of Thailand, confirmed in a statement that Jeju Air flight 7C 2216 departed from Suvarnabhumi Airport with no reports of unusual conditions on board or on the runway.
Jeju Air in a statement expressed its “profound apologies” for the accident and said it would “do everything possible to control the consequences of the accident.”
In a televised news conference, Kim E-bae, president of Jeju Air, bowed deeply along with 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 not yet identified mechanical problems in the plane following the inspection and said he would wait for the results of the government’s investigation into the cause of the incident.
Family members wept as officials announced the names of the other victims at the Muan airport lounge.
Boeing said in a statement to X that it has been in contact with Jeju Air and is ready to support the company in dealing with this accident.
“We offer our condolences to the families who have lost loved ones, and our thoughts are with the passengers and crew,” Boeing said.
It is one of the deadliest disasters in South Korean aviation history. The last time South Korea suffered a major aviation disaster was in 1997, when a Korean Airline plane crashed in Guam, killing 228 people. In 2013, an Asiana Airlines flight crashed in San Francisco, killing three and injuring around 200.
Sunday’s crash was also one of the worst landing accidents since the July 2007 crash that killed all 187 people on board and 12 were on the ground when an Airbus A320 crashed into a nearby building after taking off from Sao Paulo airport, according to data. put together 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 flight overran the runway in Mangalore, India, and plunged into a ravine before bursting into flames, according to a security source.
The incident took place at a time when South Korea is facing a major political crisis caused by President Yoon Suk Yeol’s imposition of martial law and impeachment. Last Friday, South Korean lawmakers deposed Acting President Han Duck-soo and suspended his duties, which led to Deputy Prime Minister Choi Sang-mok taking over.
Choi ordered officials to use all available resources to rescue passengers and crew before heading to Muan. Yoon’s office said his chief secretary, Chung Jin-suk, would chair an emergency meeting among the president’s top staff later on Sunday to discuss the accident.
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