The deadliest air disaster in South Korea’s history occurred on Sunday when Jeju Air flight 7C2216 crashed at Muan International Airport, killing 179 people.
The plane, arriving from Bangkok with 175 passengers and six crew members, belly-landed, skidded off the runway, and burst into flames after colliding with a wall.
The crash happened shortly after 9 a.m. (0000 GMT), according to South Korea’s transport ministry.
Two crew members survived the crash and are currently receiving treatment.
This accident is the deadliest on South Korean soil and the worst involving a South Korean airline in nearly 30 years, as reported by the ministry of transport.
Local media footage showed the twin-engine Boeing 737-800 skidding down the runway without visible landing gear before crashing into navigation equipment and a wall, triggering a fiery explosion and scattering debris.
“Only the tail part retains a little bit of shape, and the rest of (the plane) looks almost impossible to recognise,” Muan fire chief Lee Jung-hyun told a press briefing.
The two crew members, a man and a woman, were rescued from the tail section of the burning plane, Lee said. They were being treated at hospitals with medium to severe injuries, said the head of the local public health center.
Authorities searched nearby areas for bodies that may have been ejected from the plane, according to Lee.
Investigators are considering bird strikes and weather conditions as possible causes. Yonhap news agency reported that airport authorities suspect a bird strike may have caused the landing gear to malfunction.
