Only two survivors after worst South Korean air crash in 27 years

Muan, South Korea: A passenger plane burst into flames on Sunday after it skidded off a runway at a South Korean airport and slammed into a concrete fence when its front landing gear apparently failed to deploy, killing almost everyone aboard in one of the country’s worst aviation disasters.

The National Fire Agency said rescuers raced to pull people from the Jeju Air passenger plane carrying 181 people at the airport in the town of Muan, about 290 kilometres south of Seoul.

The crashed plane burns at Muan International Airport in Muan, South Korea.Credit: Via Reuters

The Transport Ministry identified the plane as a 15-year-old Boeing 737-800 jet and said the crash happened at 9.03am local time.

Officials on Sunday night confirmed that only two of the 181 people on the plane had survived.

A total of 179 people – 85 women, 84 men and 10 others whose genders were not immediately identifiable – died in the accident, the South Korean fire agency said. Among the dead were 175 passengers and four crew.

The two survivors were both crew members who emergency workers were able to pull to safety. Health officials said they were conscious and not in life-threatening conditions.

The aircraft ran off the runway.Credit: Via Reuters

South Korea’s acting President Choi Sang-mok, in an emergency meeting on Sunday evening, declared a national mourning period until January 4.

The passengers were predominantly South Korean, as well as two Thai nationals.

“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 briefing.

Authorities had worked to rescue people in the tail section, an airport official told Reuters shortly after the crash.

Video shared by local media showed the twin-engine aircraft skidding down the runway with no apparent landing gear before slamming into a wall in an explosion of flame and debris. Other photos showed smoke and fire engulfing parts of the plane.

The crash is the worst involving any South Korean airline since a 1997 Korean Air crash in Guam that killed more than 200 people, according to transport ministry data.

The plane was a Boeing 737-800 jet operated by Jeju Air, which was seeking details of the accident, including its casualties and cause, an airline spokesperson said. The transport ministry said the plane was made in 2009.

Jeju Air posted a message apologising for the accident.

The plane was a Boeing 737-800.Credit: AP

Investigators were looking into bird strikes and weather conditions as possible factors, Lee said. Yonhap cited airport authorities as saying a bird strike may have caused the landing gear to malfunction.

A passenger texted a relative to say a bird was stuck in the wing, the News1 agency reported. The person’s final message was, “Should I say my last words?”

However, aviation experts said it seemed unlikely a bird strike would have caused the landing gear to malfunction.

“A bird strike is not unusual, problems with an undercarriage are not unusual. Bird strikes happen far more often, but typically they don’t cause the loss of an airplane by themselves,” Airline News editor Geoffrey Thomas said.

Firefighters and rescue workers at the crash site.Credit: AP

A bird strike could have impacted the engines if a flock had been sucked into them, but that would not have shut them down straightaway, giving the pilots some time to deal with the situation, said Australian airline safety expert Geoffrey Dell.

“I’ve never seen a bird strike prevent the landing gear from being extended,” he said.

Boeing said in an emailed statement: “We are in contact with Jeju Air regarding flight 2216 and stand ready to support them. We extend our deepest condolences to the families who lost loved ones, and our thoughts remain with the passengers and crew.”

All domestic and international flights at Muan airport had been cancelled, Yonhap reported.

President Choi, named interim leader of the country on Friday in an ongoing political crisis, arrived at the scene of the accident and said the government was putting all its resources into dealing with the crash.

The tragedy comes as South Korea is embroiled in a huge political crisis triggered by former president Yoon Suk Yeol’s stunning imposition of martial law and ensuing impeachment.

Last Friday, South Korean lawmakers impeached the acting president, Han Duck-soo, and suspended his duties, making Deputy Prime Minister Choi Sung-mok take over.

Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra sent condolences to the families of the dead and injured in a post on X, saying she had instructed the foreign ministry to provide assistance.

The ministry said in a statement it was in touch with the South Korean authorities.

Reuters, AP