New Delhi: A Jeju Air flight carrying 181 people, including six crew members, crashed during landing at Muan International Airport in South Korea on Sunday, killing at least 167 people, reported DW. South Korea’s National Fire Agency confirmed the death toll and reported that only two crew members out of 181 passengers have been rescued alive so far. The rescue operation is ongoing, with fire brigades saying that the people on board stood “little chance of survival.”
The flight, returning from Bangkok, Thailand, encountered difficulties while landing. Initial reports cited a problem with the aircraft’s landing gear, but later updates from the fire agency pointed to adverse weather conditions and a suspected bird strike as contributing factors.
Video footage captured the aircraft skidding down the runway without visible landing gear before crashing into a wall, resulting in a massive explosion and flames. Thick black smoke was seen billowing from the airport in the aftermath.
Emergency services mobilised 32 fire engines and a large team of firefighters to the crash site. This marks the first fatal accident in the history of Jeju Air, a South Korean low-cost carrier founded in 2005.
Aviation tracking site FlightRadar24 identified the aircraft as a Boeing 737-800. Boeing and the US Federal Aviation Administration have not yet commented on the incident.
South Korea’s acting President Choi Sung-mok, who assumed office just two days earlier, ordered an all-out rescue effort and convened an emergency meeting through his chief of staff.
