A devastating plane crash at Muan International Airport in South Korea on Sunday claimed the lives of 179 of the 181 people onboard a Jeju Air Boeing 737-800.
The plane, returning from Bangkok, Thailand, with 175 passengers and six crew members, crash-landed after skidding off the runway and colliding with a perimeter wall, resulting in a fiery explosion.
Only two survivors, both cabin crew, were rescued from the wreckage. Families of the victims gathered in anguish at the airport, awaiting the identification of their loved ones, many of whom could only be recognised through fingerprints.
Preliminary investigations revealed that the plane encountered difficulties during landing, with the pilot aborting an initial attempt due to bird interference. A Mayday call preceded the emergency landing, during which the plane reportedly experienced a malfunction in its landing gear, potentially caused by birds becoming entangled in its systems.
Footage of the crash showed the aircraft landing without deploying its wheels, overshooting the runway before exploding into flames. South Korean officials, along with Jeju Air and Boeing, are cooperating to determine the exact cause of the disaster.
This tragedy is the deadliest aviation accident for a South Korean airline since the 1997 Korean Air crash in Guam and the first fatal incident for Jeju Air since its establishment in 2005. Acting President Choi Sang-mok, recently appointed amidst the country’s political crisis, visited the crash site and pledged support for the victims’ families. Jeju Air executives publicly apologised, vowing to address the crisis.
BREAKING: Video shows crash of Jeju Air Flight 2216 in South Korea. 181 people on board pic.twitter.com/9rQUC0Yxt8
— BNO News (@BNONews) December 29, 2024
Expert questions runway design
Popular aviation YouTuber Pilot Blog analysed the landing and noted the plane did not appear to be in landing configuration, leading some to speculate whether there had been a miscommunication between the pilot and co-pilot. He also questioned the placement of an impenetrable reinforced concrete wall just metres from the end of the runway, where normal airport design would dictate such structures to be frangible in the event of a collision.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1r8dl4RqMw
An experienced pilot who has flown the 737-800 makes some very interesting observations. The video is well worth watching.
They have the “black box” (which is orange) and the voice recorders so they should be able to figure out quickly some of what happened.