Plane burst into flames after skidding off runway, killing 120
A Jeju Air plane carrying 181 people from Bangkok to South Korea crashed on arrival, emergency services told AFP, with 47 confirmed dead and a dramatic video showing the aircraft bursting into flames.
Two people — one crew and one passenger — were rescued from the wreckage as part of an ongoing rescue operation, the national fire agency said in a statement.
Video shared by the local MBC broadcaster showed the Jeju Airplane — a Boeing 737-8AS, according to Flight Radar — landing at the Muan airport runway, with smoke streaming out from the engines before the entire aircraft was engulfed in flames.
Officials suspect a landing gear failure, possibly due to a bird strike, may have caused the accident.
The Yonhap news agency reported that they have begun an on-site investigation to determine the exact cause.
“So far, two rescued and 47 confirmed dead,” the National Fire Agency said in a statement, with the rescue operation ongoing.
Lee Hyeon-ji, a response team officer at the local fire department, had warned that “the tally could rise due to the critically injured.”
Lee said that rescue authorities were evacuating passengers from the rear section of the jet.
A photo showed the jet’s tail section engulfed in flames on what appeared to be the side of the runway, with firefighters and emergency vehicles nearby.
The Muan International Airport is in Muan County, about 288 km southwest of Seoul.
The fire agency said it had mobilized 32 fire engines and scores of firefighters to the scene.
The accident took place at 9:03 am (1203 GMT) on Sunday during the landing of Jeju Air Flight 2216, the Ministry of Land said.
“A total of 175 passengers (including two Thai nationals) and six crew members were onboard,” it said.
The initial fire was extinguished, and a search and rescue operation was “underway at the crash site,” it said in a statement at around 11:00 am local.
Acting President Choi Sang-mok called for mobilizing all resources to save the passengers.
Choi convened an emergency meeting with Cabinet members to discuss rescue operations and response, his office said, adding that he was on his way to Muan.
It is the first fatal accident in the history of Jeju Air, one of South Korea’s largest low-cost carriers, set up in 2005.
On August 12, 2007, a Bombardier Q400 operated by Jeju Air carrying 74 passengers came off the runway due to strong winds at the southern Busan-Gimhae airport, resulting in a dozen injuries.
South Korea’s aviation industry has a solid track record for safety, experts say.
Last year, a passenger opened an emergency exit on an Asiana Airlines flight as it was preparing to land with the aircraft landing safely, but several people were hospitalized.