Worst aviation disaster on Korean soil leaves nearly all 181 passengers, crew dead

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Worst aviation disaster on Korean soil leaves nearly all 181 passengers, crew dead

Published: 29 Dec. 2024, 19:58 Updated: 30 Dec. 2024, 11:26

LEE SOO-JUNG
[email protected]

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

Firefighters and rescue personnel conduct a search operation at the site where a Jeju Air passenger plane crashed at Muan International Airport in South Jeolla on Dec. 29. [YONHAP]

All but two of 181 passengers and crew died after a Jeju Air passenger plane crashed at Muan International Airport in South Jeolla on Sunday morning in the deadliest aviation disaster on Korean soil.

Fire authorities confirmed a total of 179 fatalities as of 9 p.m., with two injured.

Jeju Air Flight 7C 2216, a Boeing 737-800 returning from Bangkok, Thailand, with 175 passengers and six crew members, reportedly veered off the runway after a crash landing and collided with a perimeter fence at Muan International Airport at 9:03 a.m. The aircraft was destroyed after it exploded.

Two members of the cabin crew, aged 25 and 33, were found alive and rescued from the aircraft’s tail section. Fire authorities said the remaining passengers and crew were likely dead.

A bird strike is suspected to have caused the plane's landing gear to malfunction, prompting the aircraft to land without properly lowered gear.

According to a briefing by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, an air traffic controller warned the aircraft of a potential bird strike two minutes before pilots made a mayday call. The ministry added that the accident occurred approximately three minutes after the distress call.

One of the surviving flight attendants reportedly told the rescue team that they believed a “bird strike” caused the accident, adding that smoke billowed from an engine before an explosion occurred.

Debris from Jeju Air's aircraft is scattered near the runway at Muan International Airport in South Jeolla on Dec. 29. [NEWS1]

A 50-year-old fisher who witnessed the accident told Yonhap News Agency that he saw the aircraft collide with a flock of birds while descending for a landing. The witness added that birds were seemingly sucked into an engine, saying he saw the right engine in flames after hearing two or three explosions.

Investigators secured the cockpit voice recorder at 11:30 a.m. and the flight data recorder at 2:24 p.m. Eight air crash investigators and nine aviation safety inspectors have conducted an initial probe at the crash site.

Emergency workers are struggling to identify victims as the aircraft was severely damaged, with victims reportedly thrown from the plane due to the force of the impact.

Lee Jung-hyun, chief of the Muan Fire Station, told reporters that at least some victims were likely located outside the aircraft's debris, given the severe damage to the fuselage. He added that most of the plane was unrecognizable except for the tail section.

Lee said marking and recording the exact spots where victims were found takes time.

As of 2:30 p.m., the identities of five dead passengers had been verified. The remains of the victims are currently housed at a temporary mortuary at the airport and will be transported to funeral halls after identification, according to Lee Jin-cheol, chief of the Busan Regional Office of Aviation.

The National Police Agency also dispatched 169 investigators and forensic experts to help identify the victims swiftly.

A total of 1,572 personnel have been mobilized for recovery efforts, including 490 firefighters, 455 police officers, 340 military personnel and personnel from the Coast Guard and local governments, according to the Land Ministry’s statement issued at 4:30 p.m.

Smoke and flame billow from the debris of a Jeju Air passenger plane that collided with a perimeter wall after crash-landing at Muan International Airport in South Jeolla on Dec. 29. [YONHAP]

More than a dozen public officials and children were reportedly on the plane.

According to the South Jeolla provincial government, several active and retired public servants from the region were on the passenger manifest. The youngest passenger was reportedly a three-year-old boy who appeared to have boarded the plane with his family.

Thailand’s Foreign Ministry said the two Thai passengers on the plane had yet to be identified and that the embassy in Seoul was cooperating with Korean authorities to verify them or their remains as soon as possible.

Acting President Choi Sang-mok declared Muan County, South Jeolla, a special disaster area after arriving in the region. He also ordered rescue authorities to invest all equipment and personnel to save human lives.

Choi said all relevant organizations "would cooperate and make every effort to rescue survivors” during his opening remarks at the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters at Muan County Office.

While expressing his “deepest condolences for the many casualties in this accident,” he said the government “will do its best to provide support to the bereaved families.”

Muan International Airport's runways will be closed through 5 a.m. Wednesday, though the closure is subject to change.

The government set a seven-day national mourning period through Jan. 4.

Update, Dec. 29: Updated death toll.

BY LEE SOO-JUNG [[email protected]]