Fire on Busan Air flight believed to have started from overhead compartment


Firefighters and other officials visiting the site where an Air Busan airplane caught fire at Gimhae International Airport in Busan on Jan 29, 2025. - Yonhap via AP

SEOUL: South Korea’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport on Jan 29 dispatched officials and set up an emergency response team to investigate the cause of a fire that broke out on an Air Busan flight on Tuesday (Jan 28) evening.

The Air Busan plane, an Airbus A321-200 bound for Hong Kong from Gimhae International Airport in Busan, caught fire at its tail at around 10.26pm local time before takeoff.

All 176 people on board, including 169 passengers and seven crew members, managed to evacuate safely before the fire on the plane was completely extinguished by 11.31pm.

Seven people were being treated for injuries as at the afternoon of Jan 29, with four of them being crew members experiencing chest discomfort due to smoke inhalation and three with tailbone and back pain, sustained while evacuating.

With testimonies of some passengers suggesting the fire broke out at an overhead compartment, acting President and Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok on Jan 29 ordered a thorough investigation into the case.

“With some passengers even having suffered injuries while evacuating, swift follow-up measures are called for,” Choi said in his message released by the Finance Ministry.

According to the Transport Ministry’s aviation technical information system, the Air Busan aircraft had been in service for over 17 years, with no history of accidents in the past 12 years. At least 20 years of service is required for the airplanes to come under tighter inspection by the ministry.

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Meanwhile, passengers were quoted in local news reports as saying the fire appeared to have started from luggage stored in an overhead luggage compartment at the back of the plane.

“There was a crackling sound coming from the overhead luggage compartment, followed shortly by smoke,” testified a passenger who was sitting in the rear of the plane to Yonhap News Agency.

“A flight attendant told us to stay seated and came with a fire extinguisher, but thick smoke had already filled the air by then and sparks were falling out from the compartment.”

The passenger added: “As more smoke began to fill the cabin, a passenger sitting by the emergency exit opened the emergency gate, while another flight attendant opened the emergency gate on the other side, allowing passengers to evacuate. It was extremely chaotic and frightening.”

The exact source behind the crackling sound has not yet been identified by the authorities.

Another passenger who was sitting at the front of the plane stated that they only became aware of the fire after hearing someone shout “Fire!” at the back.

“After all the passengers had taken their seats and fastened their seatbelts, we heard someone shout ‘Fire!’ from the back. There was no specific announcement made about the fire as smoke quickly began to spread towards the front of the cabin,” a passenger told News1.

“People from the back came running towards the flight attendants (at the front), shouting, ‘There’s a fire! Open the door!’. I was so scared that I didn’t know what to do. People were pushing each other and falling amid the chaos.”

Some passengers also directed their criticism towards the crew members on board the aircraft, as well as the airline’s response. They said the crew members initially told the passengers to remain seated as they tried to put out the fire with a fire extinguisher.

“They didn’t tell the passengers near the fire to evacuate, nor did they instruct people to leave their belongings behind. The chaos (between passengers) escalated as some were busy trying to grab their luggage while others tried to escape,” one passenger was quoted as telling Yonhap News.

Following the evacuation, passengers told local media that there “didn’t seem to be a proper protocol or manual in place”, as airline officials only told passengers to go home or to go to the nearest hotel without other instructions. - The Korea Herald/ANN

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South Korea , Busan Air , fire , overhead , compartment

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