SEOUL, South Korea — A passenger airplane burst into flames Sunday after it skidded off a runway at a South Korean airport and slammed right into a concrete fence when its entrance touchdown gear apparently didn’t deploy. Many of the 181 individuals on board died in one of many nation’s worst aviation disasters.
The Jeju Air passenger airplane crashed whereas touchdown within the city of Muan, about 290 kilometers (180 miles) south of Seoul. The Transport Ministry stated the airplane was a 15-year-old Boeing 737-800 jet that was getting back from Bangkok and that the crash occurred at 9:03 a.m.
At the least 177 individuals — 84 girls, 82 males and 11 others whose genders weren’t instantly identifiable — died within the fireplace, the South Korean fireplace company stated. Emergency staff pulled two individuals, each crew members, to security. Well being officers stated they’re acutely aware and never in life-threatening situation.
Two individuals remained lacking about 9 hours after the incident. Among the many 177 our bodies discovered, officers have to this point recognized 57 of them, the hearth company stated. The passengers had been predominantly South Korean, in addition to two Thai nationals.
The hearth company deployed 32 fireplace vehicles and several other helicopters to comprise the blaze. About 1,570 firefighters, law enforcement officials, troopers and different officers had been additionally despatched to the location, in accordance with the hearth company and transport ministry.
Footage of the crash aired by South Korean tv channels confirmed the Jeju Air airplane skidding throughout the airstrip at excessive velocity, apparently with its touchdown gear nonetheless closed, overrunning the runway and colliding head-on with a concrete wall on the outskirts of the power, triggering an explosion. Different native TV stations aired footage displaying thick plumes of black smoke billowing from the airplane, which was engulfed in flames.
Lee Jeong-hyeon, chief of the Muan fireplace station, informed a televised briefing that the airplane was utterly destroyed, with solely the tail meeting remaining recognizable among the many wreckage. Lee stated that staff had been wanting into numerous potentialities about what precipitated the crash, together with whether or not the plane was struck by birds, Lee stated.
Transport Ministry officers later stated their early evaluation of communication data present the airport management tower issued a chicken strike warning to the airplane shortly earlier than it meant to land and gave its pilot permission to land in a distinct space. The pilot despatched out a misery sign shortly earlier than the airplane went previous the runway and skidded throughout a buffer zone earlier than hitting the wall, the officers stated.
Senior Transport Ministry official Joo Jong-wan stated staff have retrieved the flight information and cockpit voice recorders of the airplane’s black field, which will probably be examined by authorities consultants investigating the reason for the crash and fireplace. He stated it might take months for investigators to finish their probe. The runway on the Muan airport will probably be closed till Jan. 1, the ministry stated.
The Transport Ministry stated the airplane’s passengers embrace two Thai nationals. Thailand’s prime minister, Paetongtarn Shinawatra, expressed deep condolences to the households of these affected by the accident in a publish on social platform X. Paetongtarn stated she ordered the Ministry of International Affairs to offer help instantly.
Kerati Kijmanawat, the director of Airports of Thailand, confirmed in a press release that Jeju Air flight 7C 2216 departed from Suvarnabhumi Airport with no stories of irregular situations with the plane or on the runway.
Jeju Air in a press release expressed its “deep apology” over the crash and stated it should do its “utmost to handle the aftermath of the accident.”
In a televised information convention, Kim E-bae, Jeju Air’s president, bowed deeply with different senior firm officers as he apologized to bereaved households and stated he feels “full duty” for the incident. Kim stated the corporate hadn’t recognized any mechanical issues with the plane following common checkups and that he would look ahead to the outcomes of presidency investigations into the reason for the incident.
Relations wailed as officers introduced the names of some victims at a lounge within the Muan airport.
Boeing stated in a press release on X it was in touch with Jeju Air and is able to help the corporate in coping with the crash.
“We lengthen our deepest condolences to the households who misplaced family members, and our ideas stay with the passengers and crew,” Boeing stated.
It’s one of many deadliest disasters in South Korea’s aviation historical past. The final time South Korea suffered a large-scale air catastrophe was in 1997, when a Korean Airline airplane crashed in Guam, killing 228 individuals on board. In 2013, an Asiana Airways airplane crash-landed in San Francisco, killing three and injuring roughly 200.
Sunday’s accident was additionally one of many worst touchdown mishaps since a July 2007 crash that killed all 187 individuals on board and 12 others on the bottom when an Airbus A320 slid off a slick airstrip in Sao Paulo and collided with a close-by constructing, in accordance with information compiled by the Flight Security Basis, a nonprofit group aimed toward bettering air security. In 2010, 158 individuals died when an Air India Specific plane overshot a runway in Mangalore, India, and plummeted right into a gorge earlier than erupting into flames, in accordance with the security basis.
The incident got here as South Korea is embroiled into an enormous political disaster triggered by President Yoon Suk Yeol’s gorgeous imposition of martial legislation and ensuing impeachment. Final Friday, South Korean lawmakers impeached appearing President Han Duck-soo and suspended his duties, main Deputy Prime Minister Choi Sang-mok to take over.
Choi ordered officers to make use of all accessible assets to rescue the passengers and crew earlier than he headed to Muan. Yoon’s workplace stated his chief secretary, Chung Jin-suk, will preside over an emergency assembly between senior presidential employees in a while Sunday to debate the crash.
