A passenger plane burns after it overshot the runway and crashed in Muan, South Jeolla Province, Sunday (Dec 29, 2024). -- PHOTO: Yonhap/South Korea Herald-ANN
SEOUL (The Korea Herald/ANN): At least 47 people have died after a flight from Bangkok, Thailand, overshot the runway during landing at South Korea's Muan International Airport at 9:07am on Sunday, colliding with the perimeter fence, authorities confirmed.
The flight, Jeju Air 7C 2216, was carrying 175 passengers and six crew. As of 11:35am, the reported number of deaths stand at 47, with 2 being rescued.
Fire fighters are still searching for the remaining 132 people who were on board.
Emergency services, including police and fire authorities, are on the scene, providing medical assistance and assessing the damage.
The Jeju Air flight carrying 175 passengers and six crew on a flight from the Thai capital Bangkok was landing at the airport in the south of the country, the report said.
“We have so far confirmed 29 deaths from the crash... but the tally could rise due to the critically injured,” said Lee Hyeon-ji, a local fire department official, revising a previous casualty figure provided by authorities.
Three people were rescued from the wreckage as part of an ongoing rescue operation, the national fire agency said in a statement. One of them is a crew member, while another is a passenger. It is not know who the third rescued victim is.
The fire agency said it had mobilised 32 fire engines and scores of fire fighters to the scene.
Authorities were working to rescue people in the tail section, an airport official told Reuters.
The accident took place at 9:03am (8.03am Malaysian time) during the landing of Jeju Air Flight 2216 (Bangkok to Muan), the Ministry of Land said.
“A total of 175 passengers (including 2 Thai nationals) and six crew members were onboard,” it said.
The initial fire was extinguished and a search and rescue operations was “under way at the crash site”, it said in a statement at around 11am local time.
Firefighters carry out extinguishing operations on an aircraft which drove off runway at Muan International Airport in Muan, South Jeolla Province, South korea, December 29, 2024. -- Photo: Yonhap via Reuters
The crash is believed to have been caused by “contact with birds, resulting in malfunctioning landing gear” as the plane attempted to land, Yonhap reported.
Yonhap, citing airport authorities, said that the flight was attempting a crash landing due to a landing gear malfunction when the crash occurred, after its first landing attempt failed.
The plane, however, appears to have failed to reduce its speed until it reached the end of the runway and crashed into the structures at the outer edge of the airport, the authorities said.
Witnesses cited signs that the plane’s landing gear, such as tyres, remained unactivated, possibly sending it to attempt a crash landing, with a bird collision presumed to be the cause of the malfunction.
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.
Aviation tracking site FlightRadar24 said the aircraft appeared to be a Boeing 737-800. Boeing did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The US Federal Aviation Administration did not immediately respond to an e-mail seeking comment.
Authorities were conducting an investigation on the site to determine the exact cause of the crash and rescue operations were also under way, the officials said.
Acting President Choi Sung-mok, who was named interim leader of the country on Dec 27 after the previous acting president was impeached amid an ongoing political crisis, ordered all-out rescue efforts, his office said.
“All related agencies... must mobilise all available resources to save the personnel,” he instructed officials in a statement.
His chief of staff convened an emergency meeting.
A Jeju Air spokesperson said the airline was checking the reports.
It is the first fatal accident in the history of Jeju Air, one of South Korea’s largest low-cost carriers, which was set up in 2005.
On Aug 12, 2007, a Bombardier Q400 operated by Jeju Air carrying 74 passengers came off the runway due to strong winds at the southern Busan-Gimhae airport, resulting in a dozen injuries.
South Korea’s aviation industry has a solid track record for safety, experts say.
Last year, a passenger opened an emergency exit on an Asiana Airlines flight as it was preparing to land, with the aircraft landing safely but several people hospitalised.
The fatal crash takes place just days after a Dec 25 crash involving an Azerbaijan Airlines passenger plane, killing dozens. - SOUTH KOREA HERALD/ANN and REUTERS, AFP, BLOOMBERG
