Few survivors as South Korean holiday ends in fiery jet crash

The crash is believed to have been caused by ‘contact with birds, resulting in malfunctioning landing gear’ as the plane attempted to land at Muan international airport.

Smoke rises from the tail section of a Jeju Air Boeing 737-800 planet after it crashed and burst into flames at Muan International Airport in South Korea on Sunday. Picture: AFP

Only two of the 181 people aboard a South Korean passenger plane are believed to have survived a crash-landing in the country’s southwest on Sunday in one of the nation’s deadliest aviation disasters.

There was “little chance of survival” after the Jeju Air plane was “almost completely destroyed” when it flew into Muan airport and skid head-on into a runway wall before bursting into flames just after 9am (11am AEDT).

The death toll of 176 – comprising 83 women, 82 men and 11 others whose genders could not be immediately determined – was ­expected to rise further as the rest of those aboard ­remained missing almost 10 hours after the crash.

Holiday-makers had been ­returning aboard the Air Boeing 737-8AS from a Christmas tour package in Bangkok when a suspected bird strike caused the landing gear to malfunction as it prepared to land in Muan, about 290km south of Seoul.

A photo showed the tail section of the jet engulfed in flames on the side of the runway, with firefighters and emergency trucks nearby.

Emergency workers pulled out two people, both crew members, who remained conscious, health officials said.

The fuselage was damaged ­beyond recognition except for the tail section, from where rescuers evacuated passengers, ­response team officer Lee Hyeon-ji said.

Acting President Choi Sang-mok called for the mobilisation of all resources – including 32 fire trucks, several helicopters and more than 1500 firefighters, police and soldiers – to save any passengers.

“All related agencies … must mobilise all available resources to save the personnel,” he instructed officials in a statement before he arrived in Muan a few hours later.

The burning wreckage of the Jeju Air jet at Muan airport on Sunday. Picture: AFP

The transport ministry said workers had retrieved the flight data recorder from the plane’s black box and were still looking for the cockpit voice recording device.

Their early assessment of communication records show the airport control tower issued a bird strike warning to the plane shortly before it intended to land and gave its pilot permission to land in a different area.

The pilot sent out a distress signal shortly before the plane went past the runway and skid across a buffer zone before hitting the wall, ministry officials said.

By Sunday afternoon, fire officials had shifted from rescue operations to recovery.

There were 175 passengers and six crew members on board, ­including two Thai nationals, Yonhap news agency reported. The rest were believed to be South ­Korean.

Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra expressed deep condolences to the families of those affected by the accident.

She ordered the foreign ministry to provide help immediately.

Rescue workers at the crash site in South Korea. Picture: AFP

Named after Jeju Island off the mainland, Jeju Air is the country’s first budget airline and from 2011 also the largest.

Hours after the tragedy Jeju Air issued a “public apology” on its website.

“We deeply apologize to all those affected by the incident at Muan Airport,” the notice said. “We will make every effort to ­resolve the situation. We sincerely regret the distress caused.”

South Korea’s previous large-scale air disaster was in 1997 when a Korean Air plane crashed in Guam, killing 228 people on board. In 2013, an Asiana Airlines plane crash-landed in San Francisco, killing three and injuring about 200.

The incident came as South Korea is embroiled into a huge political crisis triggered by President Yoon Suk Yeol’s stunning imposition of martial law this month and ensuing impeachment.

On Friday, South Korean MPs impeached acting President Han Duck-soo and suspended his ­duties, leaving Mr Choi, the Deputy Prime Minister, to take over.