At least 176 people are feared to have died after a catastrophic plane crash at the city of Muan in South Korea. Local time in the early hours of Sunday morning at 9:03 AM, that is, 00:03 GMT, a Jeju Air flight with 175 passengers and six crew members aboard skidded off the runway at Muan International Airport while landing, which lies 289 kilometers southwest of Seoul.
The National Fire Agency of South Korea confirmed the grim toll: 83 women, 82 men, and 11 whose genders are unidentified have died. Rescuers managed to pull two survivors, both crew members, from the debris. The agency said a fire in the wreckage has been put out.
While rescue operations are still in progress, hopes of finding more survivors are slim. According to eyewitness accounts and images, the plane had a malfunction with its landing gear, making it land hard. Reporting for Al Jazeera from Seoul, Rob McBride described that it seemed the aircraft landed on its belly, causing a catastrophic explosion.
The 15-year-old Boeing 737-800 aircraft was largely loaded with South Korean citizens and two passengers from Thailand. Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra has given a statement of condolences for the victims’ families and has asked the Foreign Affairs Ministry to find out about Thai passengers on board and urgently help them.
The thick black smoke rose from the aircraft, with flames coming from the tail section as fire-fighters rushed towards it, harrowing images from the local media showed. Initial reports from Yonhap news agency suggested that a bird strike may have been a triggering factor in the accident as the landing gear malfunctioned. A passenger reportedly texted a relative, indicating that a bird was lodged in the wing, with a chilling final message asking if they should say their last words.
An official with the South Korea Transport Ministry said that a bird strike is among several unconfirmed theories that are being investigated. The acting president, Choi Sang-mok, ordered “all-out efforts for rescue operations,” calling on all relevant agencies to mobilize resources to help.
Jeju Air, one of the largest low-cost carriers in South Korea, which was founded in 2005, apologized for the incident and said it would take all necessary steps following the crash. This incident is the first fatal accident to occur to Jeju Air, although the airline did have a runway incident in 2007 with a Bombardier Q400; there were injuries but no fatalities in that incident. According to experts, South Korea has an aviation industry with a very strong safety record, making this tragedy more shocking.
