Muan:

South Korean police raided the offices of Jeju Air and the operator of Muan International Airport Thursday as they stepped up a probe into the fatal crash of a Boeing 737-800 that killed 179 people.

The flight was carrying 181 passengers and crew from Thailand to South Korea on Sunday when it issued a mayday call and belly-landed before slamming into a barrier, killing all aboard except two flight attendants.

Authorities on Thursday carried out search and seizure operations at Muan airport where flight 2216 crashed, a regional aviation office in the southwestern city, and Jeju Air’s office in the capital Seoul, police said.

Jeju Air’s chief executive Kim E-bae has also been banned from leaving the country as the investigation continues, police said separately. 

“The police plan to swiftly and rigorously determine the cause and responsibility for this accident in accordance with the law and principles,” police said in a statement sent to AFP.

At Muan airport Thursday, soldiers, police and white-suited investigators were still combing the crash site, as orange-robed monks held prayer ceremonies nearby. 

Inside the airport, the stairs were covered in colourful post-it notes left by mourners. 

“Honey, I miss you way too much,” one of them said.

“Even if you faced lonely and painful moments in death, may you now soar like a butterfly,” another read.

Relatives also left flowers and food near the crash site including tteokguk — rice cake soup traditionally enjoyed in South Korea on New Year’s Day — as they said their goodbyes, many in tears.

Star chefs featured in Netflix’s megahit cooking competition show “Culinary Class Wars”, including Ahn Yu-seong, joined volunteers in Muan this week to prepare meals for the victims’ families.

And people nationwide were remotely pre-paying for coffee at the airport’s cafe so that victims’ families, who have been camped out in the lounge since Sunday, waiting for news, could drink for free.

More bodies were released Thursday to families to prepare for funerals, the land ministry said.

Concrete barrier

Officials initially pointed to a bird strike as a possible cause of the crash, and have since said the probe was also examining the role of a concrete barrier at the end of the runway.

Dramatic video showed the plane colliding with it before bursting into flames.

Yonhap reported the Muan airport warrant was approved on charges of professional negligence resulting in death, citing officials.

“Police are securing evidence related to the legitimacy of the airport’s localizer,” Yonhap said, referring to the concrete wall at the end of the runway housing an antenna array.

They are also seeking communication records between the control tower and the pilot shortly before the plane crash, it added.

Airports nationwide were being inspected to check other similar localizers, the land ministry said in a statement.

Some experts have suggested that the disaster may have been less deadly if the installation not been concrete.

Boeing inspections

South Korea has also announced it will inspect all Boeing 737-800 aircraft operated by its carriers, focusing on the landing gear, which appears to have malfunctioned during the Sunday crash.

South Korea’s acting president, Choi Sang-mok, said Thursday that “immediate action” must be taken if that probe uncovered any issues with the aircraft model.

Authorities have previously said 101 aircraft of the same model were in operation by six different airlines.

“As there’s great public concern about the same aircraft model involved in the accident, the transport ministry and relevant agencies must conduct a thorough inspection of operation maintenance, education, and training,” Choi said Thursday.

The accident is the worst aviation disaster on South Korean soil.

South Korean authorities have completed the initial extraction of data for the cockpit voice recorder, but the flight data recorder was damaged and was to be sent to the United States for analysis, officials said Wednesday.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Investigators including officials from South Korea’s Aviation and Railway Accident Investigation Board (ARAIB), US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and aircraft manufacturer Boeing, stand by the mound where the instrument landing system localizer is located
| Photo Credit: AFP

Investigators probing a Jeju Air crash which killed 179 people in the worst aviation disaster on South Korean soil have extracted the initial data from one of the Boeing 737-800’s black boxes, an official said Wednesday (January 1, 2025).

The plane was carrying 181 people from Thailand to South Korea when it issued a mayday call and belly-landed before hitting a barrier and bursting into flames, killing everyone aboard except two flight attendants pulled from the burning wreckage.

South Korean and U.S. investigators, including from Boeing, have been combing over the crash site in southwestern Muan since the disaster Sunday (December 29, 2024).

Both of the plane’s black boxes were retrieved, and for the cockpit voice recorder, “the initial extraction has already been completed,” said Deputy Minister for civil aviation Joo Jong-wan.

“Based on this preliminary data, we plan to start converting it into audio format,” he said, “meaning investigators would be able to hear the pilots’ final communications.”

The second black box, the flight data recorder, “was found with a missing connector,” Mr. Joo said.

“Experts are currently conducting a final review to determine how to extract data from it.”

Officials initially pointed to a bird strike as a possible cause of the disaster, but they have since said the probe was also examining a concrete barrier at the end of the runway, which dramatic video showed the Boeing 737-800 colliding with before bursting into flames.

There have also been questions over possible mechanical failures, with local media reporting that the landing gear had deployed properly on Jeju Air Flight 2216’s first failed landing attempt at Muan airport before failing on the second.

The issue “will likely be examined by the Accident Investigation Board through a comprehensive review of various testimonies and evidence during the investigation process,” the Ministry of land, which oversees civil aviation, said at a briefing.

All victims identified

At Muan airport, grieving families of victims had become increasingly frustrated by delays in identifying and releasing the bodies.

Officials have said the bodies were extensively damaged by the crash, making the work of identifying remains slow and immensely difficult, even as investigators had to preserve crash-site evidence.

But the country’s acting president said Wednesday (January 1, 2024) the process had finally been completed, and that more bodies had been handed over to relatives so that they could hold funerals.

“Overnight, the identification of all 179 victims was completed,” said acting president Choi Sang-mok, who has been in office less than a week.

“Our investigators, along with the US National Transportation Safety Board and the manufacturer, are conducting a joint investigation into the cause of the accident,” Mr. Choi said at a disaster response meeting Wednesday.

“A comprehensive analysis and review of the aircraft’s structure and the black box data will reveal the cause of the accident,” Mr. Choi added.

The U.S. investigators arrived Monday (December 30, 2024) and headed straight to Muan. The initial on-site joint probe focused on a navigation system known as a localiser that assists in aircraft landings.

The localiser, installed on a concrete structure at Muan International Airport, is the barrier that has been blamed for exacerbating the severity of the Jeju Air crash.

The plane was largely carrying holidaymakers back from year-end trips to Bangkok, with all passengers Korean nationals except for two Thais.

A fuller account of what went wrong in the flight’s final moments is expected once authorities have analysed the black boxes.

Memorial altars for the victims have been set up nationwide, including in Seoul and at Muan airport.

The wreckage of the Jeju Air aircraft that went off the runway and crashed lies near skid marks on the runway at Muan International Airport, in Muan, South Korea, December 30, 2024.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

South Korea ramped up investigations on Tuesday (December 31, 2024) into the cause of its deadliest domestic air accident as police scrambled to identify victims, while families of those killed in this week’s crash of a Jeju Air jet pushed for more details.

All 175 passengers and four of the six crew were killed when the Boeing 737-800 belly-landed and skidded off the end of the runway at Muan International Airport on Sunday, erupting in a fireball as it slammed into an embankment holding navigation equipment.

But remarks in the airport’s operating manual, uploaded early in 2024, said the embankment was too close to the end of the runway and recommended that the location of the equipment be reviewed during a planned expansion.

A transport ministry official said authorities would need to check the document before replying to questions, however.

On Monday, South Korea’s Acting President Choi Sang-mok ordered an emergency safety inspection of the country’s entire airline operation.

Impatience rose on Tuesday among exhausted families gathered at the airport as they waited for the bodies of their loved ones to be released.

One bereaved relative, Park Han-shin, said the bodies being held in freezers were prepared for transfer to funeral homes but the process could take time, and urged others to stay patient.

The National Police Agency said it was making all-out efforts to speed identification of the five bodies still unknown, by allocating more personnel and equipment such as rapid DNA analysers.

A “black box” flight data recorder recovered from the crash site was missing a key connector and authorities were reviewing how to extract its data, but retrieval of data from the cockpit voice recorder has begun, the transport ministry told briefings.

Inspections of all 101 B737-800s operated by South Korean airlines were set to wrap up by Jan. 3, though the airport would stay closed until Jan. 7, it added in a statement.

Representatives of the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), Federal Aviation Administration, and aircraft maker Boeing have joined the investigations.

In a statement, the NTSB said it sent three investigators to assist, some specialised in operational factors and airworthiness.

“If we need more specialists we will send them,” Jennifer Homendy, its chair, said in an interview.

Questions about embankment

Crash investigators are considering possible factors such as bird strikes and disabled control systems on the aircraft to the pilots’ apparent rush to attempt a landing soon after declaring an emergency, fire and transport officials have said.

Officials have also faced pointed questions about airport design features, particularly the large dirt-and-concrete embankment near the end of the runway used for navigation equipment.

The plane slammed into the embankment at high speed and erupted into a fireball. Bodies and body parts were thrown into surrounding fields and most of the aircraft disintegrated in flames.

“Unfortunately, that thing was the reason that everybody got killed, because they literally hit a concrete structure,” Captain Ross “Rusty” Aimer, the chief executive of Aero Consulting Experts, told Reuters.

“It shouldn’t have been there.”

Transport Ministry officials said most South Korean airports were built based on International Civil Aviation Organization rules that recommend a 240-m (262-yard) runway-end safety area.

However, a domestic law allows adjusting location of some installations in a range that does not “significantly affect the performance of the facility”.

“But we’ll look into whether there are any conflicts in our own regulations, and conduct an additional review of our airport safety standards,” Kim Hong-rak, director general for airport and air navigation facilities policy, told a briefing.

The U.S. Federal Aviation Authority uses different standards, Kim added.

Muan International Airport’s Airport Operations Manual said the navigation equipment, called “localizers”, was installed too near the end of the runway, or just 199 m (218 yards) from the crash site.

The document, prepared by Korea Airports Corp and uploaded on its website, said the airport authority should “review securing additional distance during phase two of Muan International Airport’s expansion”.

South Korean officials have previously said the structure was about 250 m (273 yards) from the end of the runway itself, though a paved apron extends past that.

The runway design “absolutely (did) not” meet industry best practices, however, said John Cox, chief executive of Safety Operating Systems and a former 737 pilot, adding that they preclude any hard structure like a berm within at least 300 m of the end of the runway.

Video showed the plane appearing to slow down and in control when it went off the runway, Cox said. “When it hits that berm is when it turns into tragedy.”

South Korean officials said on Monday (December 30, 2024) they will conduct safety inspections of all Boeing 737-800 aircraft operated by the country’s airlines, as they struggle to determine what caused a plane crash that killed 179 people a day earlier.

Sunday’s crash, the country’s worst aviation disaster in decades, triggered an outpouring of national sympathy. Many people worry how effectively the South Korean government will handle the disaster as it grapples with a leadership vacuum following the recent successive impeachments of President Yoon Suk Yeol and Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, the country’s top two officials, amid political tumult caused by Yoon’s brief imposition of martial law earlier this month.

New acting President Choi Sang-mok on Monday presided over a task force meeting on the crash and instructed authorities to conduct an emergency review of the country’s aircraft operation systems.

Follow South Korea plane crash LIVE Updates

“The essence of a responsible response would be renovating the aviation safety systems on the whole to prevent recurrences of similar incidents and building a safer Republic of South Korea,” said Mr. Choi, who is also deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister.

The Boeing 737-800 plane operated by South Korean budget airline Jeju Air aborted its first landing attempt for reasons that aren’t immediately clear. Then, during its second landing attempt, it received a bird strike warning from the ground control center before its pilot issued a distress signal. The plane landed without its front landing gear deployed, overshot the runway, slammed into a concrete fence and burst into a fireball.

Alan Price, a former chief pilot at Delta Air Lines and now a consultant, said the Boeing 737-800 is a “proven airplane” that belongs to a different class of aircraft than the Boeing 737 Max jetliner that was linked to fatal crashes in 2018 and 2019.

But South Korea’s Transport Ministry said Monday it plans to conduct safety inspections of all of the 101 Boeing 737-800 jetliners operated by the country’s airlines as well as a broader review into safety standards at Jeju Air, which operates 39 of those planes. Senior ministry official Joo Jong-wan said representatives from the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board and Boeing were expected to arrive in South Korea on Monday to participate in the investigation.

Ministry officials also said they will look into whether the Muan airport’s localizer — a concrete fence housing a set of antennas designed to guide aircraft safely during landings — should have been made with lighter materials that would break more easily upon impact.

Mr. Joo said the ministry has determined that similar concrete structures are in other domestic airports, including in Jeju Island and the southern cities of Yeosu and Pohang, as well as airports in the United States, Spain and South Africa.

Video of the crash indicated that the pilots did not deploy flaps or slats to slow the aircraft, suggesting a possible hydraulic failure, and did not manually lower the landing gear, suggesting they did not have time, said John Cox, a retired airline pilot and CEO of Safety Operating Systems in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Despite that, the jetliner was under control and traveling in a straight line, and damage and injuries likely would have been minimized if not for the barrier being so close to the runway, Mr. Cox said.

Other observers said the videos showed the plane was suffering from suspected engine trouble but the landing gear malfunction was likely a direct reason for the crash. They said there wouldn’t likely be a link between the landing gear problem and the suspected engine issue.

Earlier Monday, another Boeing 737-800 plane operated by Jeju Air returned to Seoul’s Gimpo International Airport shortly after takeoff when the pilot detected a landing gear issue. Song Kyung-hoon, a Jeju Air executive, said the issue was resolved through communication with a land-based equipment centre, but the pilot decided to return to Gimpo as a precautionary measure.

Mr. Joo said officials were reviewing whether there might have been communication problems between air traffic controllers and the pilot. “Our current understanding is that, at some point during the go-around process, communication became somewhat ineffective or was interrupted, ahead of the landing and impact,” he said.

Ministry officials said Monday the plane’s flight data and cockpit audio recorders were moved to a research center at Gimpo airport ahead of their analysis. Ministry officials earlier said it would take months to complete the investigation of the crash.

The Muan crash is South Korea’s deadliest aviation disaster since 1997, when a Korean Airlines plane crashed in Guam, killing 228 people on board.

The crash left many South Koreans shocked and ashamed, with the government announcing a seven-day national mourning period through Jan. 4. Some questioned whether the crash involved safety or regulatory issues, such as a 2022 Halloween crush in Seoul that killed 160 people and a 2014 ferry sinking that killed 304 people.

The Transport Ministry said authorities have identified 146 bodies and are collecting DNA and fingerprint samples from the other 33.

Park Han Shin, a representative of the bereaved families, said they were told that the bodies were so badly damaged that officials need time before returning them to their families.

“I demand that the government mobilize more personnel to return our brothers and family members as intact as possible more swiftly,” he said, choking down tears.

The crash was yet more major news for South Koreans already reeling from a political crisis set off by Yoon’s martial law decree, which brought hundreds of troops into Seoul streets and revived traumatic memories of past military rule in the 1970-80s.

The political tumult resulted in the opposition-controlled National Assembly impeaching Yoon and Han. The safety minister stepped down and the police chief was arrested over their roles in the martial law inforcement.

The absence of top officials responsible for managing disasters has led to concerns.

“We are deeply worried whether the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters really can handle the disaster,” the mass-circulation JoongAng Ilbo newspaper said in an editorial Monday.

A South Korean Jeju Air passenger jet crashed on landing at Muan International Airport on Sunday, killing 179 people in the country’s deadliest air disaster.

The following are the final minutes of Flight 7C2216 as provided by South Korea’s transport ministry and fire authorities.

All times are Korea Standard Time (GMT+9).

8:54 am – Muan airport air traffic control authorises the aircraft to land on runway 01, which is orientated at 10 degrees east of north.

8:57 am – Air traffic control gives “caution – bird activity” advisory.

8:59 am – Flight 7C2216 pilot reports bird strike, declares emergency “Mayday Mayday Mayday” and “Bird strike, bird strike, go-around.”

9:00 am – Flight 7C2216 initiates a go-around and requests authorisation to land on runway 19, which is by approach from the opposite end of the airport’s single runway.

9:01 am – Air traffic control authorises landing on runway 19.

9:02 am – Flight 7C2216 makes contact with runway at about 1,200m (1,312 yard) point of the 2,800m (3,062 yard) runway.

9:02:34 am – Air traffic control alerts “crash bell” at airport fire rescue unit.

9:02:55 am – Airport fire rescue unit completes deploying fire rescue equipment.

9:03 am – Flight 7C2216 crashes into embankment after over-shooting the runway.

9:10 am – The Transport Ministry receives an accident report from airport authorities.

9:23 am – One male rescued and transported to a temporary medical facility.

9:38 am – Muan airport is closed.

9:50 am – Rescue completed of a second person from inside tail section of the plane.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

South Korea was reeling Monday from the loss of 179 people after a Jeju Air plane crash-landed and burst into flames, with a team of US investigators joining local authorities to probe possible causes.

The Boeing 737-800 was carrying 181 people from Thailand to South Korea when it crashed on arrival Sunday, killing everyone aboard — save two flight attendants pulled from the twisted wreckage of the worst aviation disaster on South Korean soil. 

Officials have cited a bird strike as a likely cause of the crash, which flung passengers from the plane and left it “almost completely destroyed”, according to fire officials.

Video showed Jeju Air Flight 2216 landing on its belly at Muan International Airport, skidding off the runway as smoke streamed out from the engines, before crashing into a wall and exploding in flames.

The US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said Sunday that it would lead a team of investigators, including from Boeing and the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA), to join officials in South Korea in probing what caused the crash. The country has a solid air safety record.

Both black boxes — the flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder — have been found.

One of the flight attendants who survived was awake in hospital and able to communicate late Sunday, the Yonhap news agency reported. 

“When I woke up, I had already been rescued,” the 33-year-old told doctors, according to the hospital.

He suffered multiple fractures, while the other crew member — a 25-year-old woman — injured her ankle and head, Yonhap reported.

Inside the airport terminal late Sunday, tearful family members gathered to wait for news.

An official called out the names of 65 victims who have been identified, with each name triggering fresh cries of grief. 

Under floodlights, rescue workers used a giant yellow crane to lift the burned-out fuselage of the orange-and-white aircraft on the runway at Muan — some 288 kilometres (about 180 miles) southwest of Seoul.

Bits of plane seats and luggage were strewn across the field next to the runway, not far from the charred tail.

All of the passengers were Korean apart from two Thais, a three-year-old and a 78-year-old, authorities said.

“I had a son on board that plane,” an elderly man waiting in the airport lounge, who asked not to be named, told AFP.

“My younger sister went to heaven today,” a 65-year-old woman, who gave only her surname Jo, told AFP.

Authorities said they were working to complete the identification of all victims.

Minutes before the crash, the control tower had issued a warning of a bird strike, with the pilot soon after making a “mayday” distress call.

Video shows the plane coming off the tarmac and hitting a wall, but officials dismissed speculation that the length of the runway might be a factor in the crash.

Low-cost carrier Jeju Air said it “sincerely” apologised, with top officials shown bowing deeply at a press conference in Seoul.

Boeing said that it was in touch with Jeju Air and stood “ready to support them”.

South Korea’s acting President Choi Sang-mok, who took office only on Friday, convened an emergency cabinet meeting and then visited the crash site at Muan.

US President Joe Biden led a wave of global condolences, saying he was “deeply saddened” by the crash. 

South Korea declared a seven-day national mourning period, with memorial altars to be set up nationwide.

It is the first fatal accident in the history of Jeju Air, one of South Korea’s largest low-cost carriers, which was established in 2005.

A number of fatal aviation accidents have occurred globally due to bird strikes, which can cause a loss of power if the animals are sucked into a plane’s air intakes.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Oslo:

An Amsterdam-bound flight skidded off the runway at Oslo Torp Sandefjord Airport in Norway after an emergency landing. The incident happened on Saturday night, when a KLM Royal Dutch Airlines-operated Boeing 737-800 experienced a hydraulic failure shortly after taking off from Oslo Airport, prompting the crew to divert to Sandefjord Airport.

This came hours before a Boeing 737-800 aircraft, operated by Jeju Air, flying from Bangkok to South Korea with 181 people on board crashed on landing at Muan International Airport on Sunday, leaving all but two people plucked from the wreckage feared dead.

As per media reports, the KLM flight was carrying 176 passengers and six crew members. It landed safely at Sandefjord Airport, situated 110 kilometres south of Oslo. However, on landing, the plane veered off the runway before stopping in soft grass near a taxiway, a video of which is being widely shared on social media.

KLM flight #KL1204, a Boeing 737-800, veered off the right side of runway 18 after landing at Oslo Torp Sandefjord Airport.
The flight had diverted there shortly after takeoff from Oslo Airport (OSL).pic.twitter.com/SKIwHIfMBV

— Aviation Safety Network (ASN) (@AviationSafety) December 28, 2024

Video shows passengers being evacuated from the aircraft using mobile stairs, as emergency responders arrived on the site. Fortunately, all 182 people on board were unharmed.

Later, KLM in a statement confirmed that incident and said that during takeoff, a loud noise was heard, leading to the diversion. On landing, pilots were unable to control the aircraft and it slid and entered the grass next to the runway, NOS said in a report.

The airline also reassured that the passengers and crew were unharmed and were cared for and an investigation has been launched into the incident.

The flight departed from Oslo at 6:55 pm (local time) and the aircraft landed at Torp’s Sandefjord airport at 7:14 pm (local time), according to Dutch media reports.

After safely evacuating them, all the passengers were transported to Torp Sandefjord airport’s terminal by bus and a little before 9:00 pm (local time) everyone was off the plane, the reports added.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

“Is there absolutely no chance of survival?” The heartbreaking question echoed through a conference room at Muan International Airport as families of passengers on the ill-fated Jeju Air Boeing 737-800 clung to dwindling hope. The aircraft, carrying 181 people crashed early Sunday morning, with all but two feared dead. A crew member and a passenger were pulled from the wreckage during an ongoing rescue operation, officials confirmed.

As families gathered at the airport, the sound of sobbing filled the air. About four hours after the crash, former Muan Fire Department Chief Lee Jeong-Hyeon addressed the distraught families. “It is presumed that most of the 181 people on board the plane have died,” he said, as per a local outlet. The room, with over 100 family members, was consumed with cries of anguish, with some collapsing under the weight of the tragedy.

Asked if there was “no chance” of survival, the chief could only lower his head before responding, “It’s unfortunate, but that’s what we’re seeing.”

One woman, awaiting news about her daughter, fell into her lap as hope dissipated. A man vented his frustration, repeating, “How could I…” Others were left speechless, murmuring about their last conversations with loved ones: “Oh my, you called yesterday…” and “You were so excited to go out and play…”

A 33-year-old woman recounted tearfully, “My sister was on that plane. She had always suffered, but now that her circumstances had improved, she went to have fun,” she told a local outlet.

Families, already devastated, demanded access to the crash site to confirm the fates of their loved ones. Authorities denied the requests, citing safety concerns. Acting President and Deputy Prime Minister Choi Sang-mok visited the airport to offer condolences and address the families’ demands for real-time updates. “Please think of our families first,” they pleaded, to which Mr Choi offered a short response, “I understand.”

The crash has led to the cancellation of all flights at Muan Airport. Jeju Air has apologised and pledged full cooperation with investigations.

Seoul, South Korea:

A Jeju Air plane flying from Bangkok to South Korea with 181 people on board crashed on landing Sunday, leaving all but two people plucked from the wreckage feared dead.

Here’s what we know so far.

What happened?

A Boeing 737-800 aircraft belonging to low-cost carrier Jeju Air, flying from Bangkok to Muan airport, was warned of a bird strike by the control tower, officials said, during its first attempt at landing shortly after 9:00 am (midnight GMT).

Minutes later, with the pilot issuing a “mayday” warning, it tried to land again, with video showing it attempting a “belly landing” without its landing gear activated.

Dramatic video shows the plane skidding along the runway with smoke trailing out, until it hits a wall at the end and bursts into flames.

What caused the accident?

Investigations have been launched, but officials suspect the accident could have been caused by bird strike and adverse weather conditions.

When asked if the accident happened due to the runway being too short — video shows the plane coming off the tarmac and hitting a wall — one official said this was likely not a factor.

“The runway is 2,800 metres long, and similar-sized aircraft have been operating on it without issues,” they said.

What is a bird strike and how harmful is it?

A bird strike is a collision between a bird and an aircraft in flight.

A bird strike can be hazardous to aircraft safety and jets are especially vulnerable to loss of power if birds are sucked into the air intakes, according to the UN agency International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). A number of fatal accidents have occurred globally due to bird strikes.

But in 2009, a US Airways Airbus A320 famously ditched in New York’s Hudson River after a bird strike on both of its engines, in an incident widely known as the “Miracle on the Hudson” because there was no loss of life.

Where was the plane coming from?

The plane was flying from Bangkok, Thailand to South Korea’s Muan county, about 288 kilometres (180 miles) southwest of the national capital Seoul.

Passengers on board, survivors

There were a total of 175 passengers and six crew members onboard. Rescue workers plucked out two survivors — both flight attendants — from the wreckage. As of mid-afternoon, 124 people have been confirmed dead.

Officials said there was “little chance of survival,” for others, adding that the plane was “almost completely destroyed,” during the crash.

Rescue operation

Hundreds of firefighters and other emergency responders — including military — were deployed to the area, with the country’s acting president designating the site a special disaster zone.

Authorities said families were waiting at the first floor of the Muan airport. Many were seen crying in despair as they heard the news.

Aviation safety record

South Korea’s aviation industry has a solid safety record and the crash was the first fatal accident for Jeju Air.

A  Jeju Air-operated Bombardier Q400 carrying 74 passengers veered off the runway due to strong winds at another southern airport, Busan-Gimhae on August 12, 2007. A dozen people were injured.

Government response

The accident occurred with South Korea in the throes of a political crisis, with its third president in a month. Acting President Choi Sang-mok, on his third day in office, convened an emergency meeting with cabinet members to discuss the rescue operation and response and visited the crash scene.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Seoul:

The US aviation giant Boeing on Sunday extended its condolences to the families of victims killed in the Jeju Air plane crash in South Korea’s Muan. A Boeing 737-800 aircraft, operated by Jeju Air, flying from Bangkok to South Korea with 181 people on board crashed on landing at Muan International Airport on Sunday, leaving all but two people plucked from the wreckage feared dead.

“We are in contact with Jeju Air regarding Flight 2216 and stand ready to support them,” Boeing said in a statement posted to its X account.

“We extend our deepest condolences to the families who lost loved ones, and our thoughts remain with the passengers and crew,” the company added. 

pic.twitter.com/TIrIUBw4RB

— The Boeing Company (@Boeing) December 29, 2024

The US aerospace company has seen a turbulent time in the past few years, with a series of embarrassing safety blunders. Boeing, earlier this year, pleaded guilty to the charge of conspiracy to defraud the United States for its role in two fatal 737 Max crashes. However, the Boeing 737-800 has been described reliable workhorse by experts, with the aircraft having an extremely strong safety record.

South Korea’s aviation industry has a solid safety record and the crash was the first fatal accident for Jeju Air. The crash is being dubbed as the worst civil aviation disaster in South Korea. 

What We Know Of The Crash So Far

The Boeing 737-800 aircraft was reportedly warned of a bird strike by the control tower during its first attempt at landing shortly after 9:00 am (midnight GMT). However, minutes later, the pilot issued a “mayday” warning, and it tried to land again, with a video showing it attempting a “belly landing” without its landing gear activated.

Dramatic video showed the plane skidding along the runway with smoke trailing out before it hit a wall at the end and burst into flames.

Investigations have been launched, but according to a report by AFP, officials suspect the accident could have been caused by a bird strike and adverse weather conditions.

Questions were also raised if the accident happened due to the runway being too short, as the video showed the plane coming off the tarmac and hitting a wall. But, an official told AFP that it was likely not a factor. “The runway is 2,800 metres long, and similar-sized aircraft have been operating on it without issues,” they said.

There were a total of 175 passengers and six crew members onboard. Rescue workers plucked out two survivors — both flight attendants — from the wreckage. As of mid-afternoon, 124 people have been confirmed dead.

Officials said there was “little chance of survival,” for others, adding that the plane was “almost completely destroyed,” during the crash.

Meanwhile, a rescue operation is underway with hundreds of firefighters and other emergency responders — including military — deployed to the area. 

The accident occurred with South Korea in the throes of a political crisis, with its third president in a month. Acting President Choi Sang-mok, on his third day in office, convened an emergency meeting with cabinet members to discuss the rescue operation and response and visited the crash scene. He also designated the site a special disaster zone.