BY OSABUOHIEN VIVIAN ROSE
At least 177 people have died when a plane belly landed on a runway in South Korea before skidding off and bursting into flames. The Jeju Aircraft was carrying 175 passengers and six crew when it crash-landed. Two people survived, both crew members, while another two remain missing.
Local fire officials and aviation experts say some sort of landing gear malfunction was likely. The pilot also made a mayday call shortly after the control tower warned about birds in the area. The investigation into the crash may take years.
The two surviving crew members were rescued from the tail of the aircraft and had suffered “mid to severe” injuries, authorities said. The tail was the only part of the aircraft yo retain its shape.
There have been harrowing scenes inside Muan International Airport, where relatives have been demanding answers from officials.
The plane, listed as a Boeing 737-800 on FlightAware, had traveled from Bangkok, Thailand. Analysts say both the Boeing 787-800 and Jeju Air, South Korea’s largest low-cost airline, have a strong safety record.
The youngest passenger on board the Jeju Air flight which crash-landed on Sunday at Muan International Airport was a three-year-old child, and the oldest was a 78-year-old, according to the fire service, citing the passenger manifest.
Over 1,570 personnel from the military, police and government were deployed to Muan in South Korea’s Jeolla province to provide support for the recovery effort, an official from the country’s transport ministry said.
The official added that the ministry will interview control tower staff to gather additional information, including whether there were visibility issues.
Communication data between the cockpit and the control tower will also be reviewed, the official added.
The crash occurred approximately two minutes after the airliner made a mayday call to the control tower, which instructed the plane to land in the opposite direction on the runway.
The aircraft was carrying 175 passengers and six crew when it crashed. Two crew members have been pulled from the wreckage, while dozens of people have been confirmed dead. It is the deadliest aviation disaster to hit South Korea since 1997, when a Korean Airlines Boeing 747 crashed in the Guam jungle, with the loss of 228 lives.
David Lammy, the UK’s foreign secretary, has expressed his heartfelt condolences, saying he is “deeply saddened” by the news of the plane crash in South Korea.
In a post on X, he adds: “My heartfelt condolences go out to the people of South Korea and Thailand, and all those that have lost loved ones.”
Most of the passengers on board are believed to have been South Koreans, with the exception of two Thai nationals.
Chinese President Xi Jinping, posting on Telegram, also shared his condolences to the victims and their families.
Xi sent a message to acting South Korean President Choi Sang-mok expressing shock at the large number of victims, China’s state-run CCTV said.
“On behalf of the Chinese government and people, I express my deep condolences to the victims and my sincerest consolations to the victims’ families, and wish for the swift recovery of the injured,” he was quoted as saying.
South Korea’s acting president, Choi Sang-mok, has declared a period of national mourning until 4 January over the plane crash.
“We extend our deepest condolences and sympathy to the bereaved families of those who lost their lives in this unexpected tragedy,” he was quoted as saying. Flags at government offices will be lowered and civil servants will wear black ribbons, the BBC reports.
The incident is the first major test for Choi, who assumed office on Friday after South Korea’s parliament voted to impeach the previous acting president, Han Duck-soo.
