A bird strike is suspected to have caused the malfunction in the landing gear of the Boeing 737-800 jet, which led to a fatal crash at South Korea’s Muan Airport. A Juju Air passenger plane carrying 181 people crash-landed at South Korea’s Muan International Airport on Sunday, likely killing all but two people, according to reports.
South Korean news agency Yonhap said the flight attempted to do a crash landing as its landing gear malfunctioned. It further added that the first attempt at landing went wrong, and the second was a mishap.
Bird Collision: Suspected cause for the malfunction in the Boeing 737 800 landing gear carrying 175 passengers and 6 crew members, flying from Bangkok in Thailand.
The visuals of the accident showed that the twin-engine aircraft had landed at Muan without any landing gear and had crashed into the wall outside of the airport, breaking into a fireball.
Black smoke billowed from the airport as firefighters carried out extinguishing operations. According to Yonhap, rescue teams have saved three victims—two passengers and a crew member.
The accident occurred at 9:07 a.m. at the southwestern coastal airport, a key regional hub within South Korea’s South Jeolla Province. It represents the first big incident at Muan International Airport.
Acting President Choi Sang-mok was named interim leader of the country on Friday following the ouster of his predecessor amidst an unresolved political crisis. According to a statement from his office, a full-scale rescue effort was ordered on Saturday.
