179 killed in Jeju Air crash, South Korea’s worst air tragedy
The deadliest air accident ever in South Korea killed 179 people on Sunday, when an airliner belly-landed and skidded off the end of the runway, erupting in a fireball as it slammed into a wall at Muan International Airport.
Jeju Air flight 7C2216, arriving from the Thai capital Bangkok with 175 passengers and six crew on board, was attempting to land shortly after 9 a.m. (local time) at the airport in the south of the country, South Korea’s transport ministry said.
Two crew members survived and were being treated for injuries.
The deadliest air accident on South Korean soil was also the worst involving a South Korean airline in nearly three decades, according to the transport ministry.
“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.
→ Malaysia to resume hunt for Flight MH370, 10 years after it vanished
The two crew members, a man and a woman, were rescued from the tail section of the burning Boeing 737-800, Lee said. They were being treated at hospitals with medium to severe injuries, said the head of the local public health centre.
Investigators are examining bird strikes and weather conditions as possible factors, Lee said. Yonhap news agency cited airport authorities as saying a bird strike may have caused the landing gear to malfunction.
The crash was the worst for any South Korean airline since a 1997 Korean Air crash in Guam that killed more than 200 people, according to transportation ministry data. The previous worst on South Korean soil was an Air China crash that killed 129 in 2002.
Experts said the bird strike report and the way the aircraft attempted to land raised more questions than answers.
“A bird strike is not unusual, problems with an undercarriage are not unusual,” said Airline News editor Geoffrey Thomas. “Bird strikes happen far more often, but typically they don’t cause the loss of an airplane by themselves.”
Under global aviation rules, South Korea will lead a civil investigation into the crash and automatically involve the National Transportation Safety Board in the United States where the plane was designed and built.
With information from Reuters
Related Topics
American Airlines Expands Winter Network with New Destinations for Snow, Sun, and Adventure Lovers
Embraer Expands U.S. Presence with New Maintenance Center in Dallas-Fort Worth
JetBlue’s Second-Largest Investor Pressures Airline: Could Sell Stake If There Are No improvements
Delta Bets Big on Seattle: New International Routes and Two VIP Lounges
Plataforma Informativa de Aviación Comercial con 13 años de trayectoria.