A tragic plane crash at a South Korean airport claimed the lives of 179 people after the aircraft skidded off the runway and collided with a concrete barrier, causing it to explode. The disaster occurred at Muan Airport as a Jeju Air passenger plane was landing after a flight from Bangkok, Thailand, with 181 people on board. Two flight attendants survived with injuries, while all others perished in the accident.
Preliminary investigations suggest that the crash may have been caused by a bird strike, which reportedly led to a technical fault in the plane’s landing gear. Unable to perform a standard landing, the pilot attempted a belly landing on an alternate runway, a maneuver that involves landing the aircraft on its underside when the wheels fail to deploy. Despite the challenging effort, the plane lost control upon touchdown, skidded off the runway, and crashed into a nearby barrier. It subsequently burst into flames.
Firefighters, police officers, and airport personnel numbering over 1,500 responded to the scene with 32 fire engines. Despite their efforts, the plane was engulfed in flames, leaving only the tail section intact. The bodies of 177 victims have been recovered, with 88 identified. It has been confirmed that 85 of the victims were women and 84 were men, while the gender of the remaining victims could not be determined due to the severity of the burns. The two survivors, both flight attendants, were seated near an emergency exit, which facilitated their escape.
The 15-year-old Boeing 737-800 jet’s black box has been recovered, and investigators are analyzing flight data and cockpit voice recordings to determine the exact cause of the crash. Joo Jong-won, a senior aviation official, stated that initial evidence points to a bird strike as the trigger for the technical malfunction. Further insights are expected as the investigation progresses.
The crash has left South Korea in mourning. Interim President Choi Sang-mok visited the crash site and expressed condolences to the victims' families, pledging government support during this difficult time. Jeju Air President Kim E-pae publicly apologized, taking full responsibility for the tragedy. The airline stated that the plane had undergone routine checks and had no prior mechanical issues. Boeing has assured full cooperation with the ongoing investigation.
The incident has raised significant questions among aviation experts. Concerns have been voiced about the decisions made during the emergency, including why the belly landing was attempted without fire trucks on standby and why the plane was landed on a runway less than 3 kilometers long. Experts also questioned the apparent haste in making critical decisions without extensive circling to evaluate alternative solutions.
The families of the victims gathered at Muan Airport, holding onto hope before learning of the fatalities. The announcement that all passengers except the two flight attendants had died plunged the families into profound grief, amplifying the nation’s sorrow.
In the aftermath of the disaster, comparisons have been drawn to some of the worst aviation accidents in history. This crash is among the deadliest in South Korea since a Korean Air flight in Guam in 1997, which killed 228 people. It also ranks among the most severe global landing accidents since 2007.
In a related development, panic ensued at Halifax Airport in Nova Scotia, Canada, when an Air Canada plane caught fire while landing due to a wheel malfunction. Fortunately, swift action by emergency teams ensured that all passengers and crew were safely evacuated.
The Muan crash has cast a shadow over South Korea’s aviation safety record, prompting urgent calls for thorough investigations and safety reforms to prevent similar tragedies in the future.
