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.)

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.

Seoul:

The Jeju Air plane crash at South Korea’s Muan, in which 179 of the 181 people on board are feared dead, came at a time when the Asian country’s government is in the middle of a full-blown political crisis. South Korea’s current president, Yoon Suk Yeol, was impeached on December 14, following a short-lived martial law declaration that plunged the country into its worst political chaos in decades.

However, the leadership crisis in Seoul didn’t end there. Country’s Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, who stepped into Yoon’s shoes as acting President of South Korea, was also stripped of his powers by parliament on Friday.

That means the country’s Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok assumed the position of acting president while the country’s top Constitutional Court decided the fate of Yoon and Han. Two days into the new job, acting President Choi now faces South Korea’s worst domestic civil aviation disaster.

New President In The Middle Of Chaos

Acting President Choi has instructed emergency responders to mobilize “all available” equipment and personnel to the plane crash site at the Muan International Airport, He also reached the site where the Jeju Air flight crash-landed earlier in the day and declared it a special disaster zone.

The President has vowed a full investigation into what caused the deadly crash. “We will concentrate all resources on recovery and support for the victims. All necessary resources are being mobilized, and a special disaster zone has been declared,” Choi said in a statement.

A Jeju Air plane carrying 181 people from Thailand to South Korea crashed on arrival Sunday, smashing into a barrier and bursting into flames, leaving all but two feared dead.

A bird strike and adverse weather conditions were cited by authorities as likely causes of the crash that flung passengers out of the plane and left it “almost completely destroyed”, according to fire officials.

Video showed the Jeju Air plane from Bangkok 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. Only two people were rescued, both flight attendants and 120 people were confirmed dead by mid-afternoon, the fire department said in a statement.

Uncertain Political Landscape In South Korea

The impeachment of Prime Minister Han, the acting president since Mr Yoon was impeached on December 14 for declaring martial law on December 3, has pushed South Korea’s once-vibrant democratic success story into uncharted territory. South Korea is Asia’s fourth-largest economy after China, Japan and India.

Yoon, who is currently suspended while the country’s top court decides his fate, faces impeachment and criminal charges of insurrection, which could result in life imprisonment or even the death penalty.

If his impeachment is upheld by the court, which is required to deliver its ruling within six months of the impeachment, a by-election must be held within 60 days of the court’s decision. The move will also make Mr Yoon the shortest-serving president in South Korea’s democratic history.

New Delhi:

The Jeju Air plane crash at South Korea’s Muan, the death count of which has climbed to 85 and may go up further, took place moments after the Boeing 737-800 aircraft attempted a belly landing. Videos of the moments before the crash show the plane dragging on its underbody before crashing into a wall. The aircraft, flying from Bangkok in Thailand to Muan, had 181 onboard. The national fire agency has said they have rescued two people and all others are feared dead, South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency has reported.

Visuals capturing the plane crash show the aircraft dragging on its belly before it rams a wall and goes up in flames. Pilots attempt belly landing when during a landing gear malfunction. A Yonhap report quoting airport authorities said the pilot tried a crash landing after a regular landing attempt failed. This could have been the result of a bird strike. “Witnesses cited signs that the plane’s landing gear, such as tires, remained unactivated, possibly sending it to attempt a crash landing, with a bird collision presumed to be the cause of the malfunction,” the report said.

Social media users, including former pilots, have raised several questions. One of them is the plane’s high speed when landing on a runway less than 3 km long. Others have asked why firefighters are not in position near the runway if it was a planned belly landing. There is another question, the aircraft trajectory shows the plane did not circle before attempting a belly landing, considered a last-ditch manoeuvre. Planes hit by technical malfunction usually circle the airport as the pilots try to figure out a solution. In this case, however, that was not done.

Lee Jeong-hyun, chief of Muan fire station, told the media that bad weather contributed to the tragedy. “The cause of the accident is presumed to be a bird strike combined with adverse weather conditions. However, the exact cause will be announced following a joint investigation,” he said.

Low-cost airline Jeju Air apologised for the crash and said it would all it could to help. “We at Jeju Air will do everything in our power in response to this accident. We sincerely apologise for causing concern,” the airline said in a statement posted on social media.

South Korea’s acting President Choi Sang-mok said, “I believe no words of consolation would suffice for the bereaved families who have suffered this tragedy. The entire government is working closely together to manage the aftermath of the accident, dedicating all available resources, while making every effort to ensure thorough support for the bereaved families”