On December 29, 2024, the crash of a plane trying to land at Muan Airport in South Korea left several dozen dead. Of the 181 people on board, only two have survived so far.
Here’s what we know about the crash of a Boeing operated by low-cost airline Jeju Air on Sunday in South Korea, the deadliest air accident in the history of this country with its high standards for aviation safety.
The latest report states that two survivors survived and at least 167 confirmed deaths out of the 181 people on board.
What happened?
Jeju Air flight 2216, coming from Bangkok, crashed upon landing at Muan airport (southwest), about 290 kilometers south of the capital Seoul, at 9 a.m. local time (midnight GMT), according to the Ministry of Territories.
He had issued a distress message after a first landing attempt, during which the control tower had warned the crew that the aircraft had been hit by birds.
A video broadcast by South Korean channel MBC shows the plane landing with smoke coming out of the engines, apparently without landing gear 'landing. The plane leaves the runway and is then engulfed in flames.
Who was on board the plane?
It was carrying 175 passengers, including two Thai nationals, as well as six crew members.
By late afternoon, 167 deaths had been confirmed, but the toll continues to rise and the chances of finding other survivors are diminishing, in addition to two crew members extracted shortly after the crash.
According to the specialist website Flightradar, the plane, a Boeing 737-8AS of the South Korean low-cost airline Jeju Air, entered service in 2009.
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The rescue team sent dozens of vehicles and firefighters to the scene.
Images broadcast by local TV stations showed the plane burned to the ground except for the tail section and bodies wrapped in blue shrouds being carried out on stretchers.
South Korean interim President Choi Sang-mok chaired an emergency government meeting and visited the scene later in the day.
What caused the crash?
“The cause of the accident is believed to be a bird strike combined with bad weather conditions. But the exact cause will be announced after an investigation,” said Lee Jeong-hyun, chief of the Seoul Fire Department. Muan, during a press briefing.
The first elements reported by the South Korean news agency Yonhap indicated a “landing gear malfunction”.
From the same source, the aircraft landed on its belly and burst into flames after hitting a fence at the end of the runway.
What are the dangers of bird strikes?
Bird strikes, which can cause significant damage to an engine or windshield, are the cause of many accidents.
In most cases, the collision occurs during takeoff or landing, when the engines are running at full power. Material damage ranges from a simple deformation of the leading edge of the wing to partial or total destruction of the engine.
One of the most famous cases was in January 2009, when the pilot of a US Airways Airbus A320 with 155 passengers managed to land in cold blood on the Hudson River in New York after such a collision.
What about previous air accidents?
This is the first fatal accident in the history of Jeju Air, founded in 2005.
On August 12, 2007, a Bombardier Q400 from its fleet carrying 74 people went off the runway in strong winds at Busan-Gimhae Airport (southeast), injuring about ten people light.
Before Sunday’s, the worst plane crash in South Korea’s history was the April 15, 2002 crash of an Air China Boeing 767 from Beijing into a hill near Busan-Gimhae Airport, killing 129 people.
Before Sunday’s, the last fatal crash involving a South Korean airline was an Asiana Airlines Boeing 777 that missed its landing at San Francisco airport, killing three people and injuring 182 people on July 6, 2013.
The deadliest South Korean airline crash remains the crash of a Korean Air Boeing 747, flying from New York to Seoul via Anchorage, Alaska, which was shot down by a Soviet fighter over the Sea of Japan, killing all 246 passengers and 23 crew members on September 1, 1983.
However, experts consider the South Korean air transport sector to be generally reliable.