A plane carrying 181 people has crashed at South Korea’s Muan Airport after skidding off the runway during landing, killing at least 85 people. according to Yonhap According to the news agency, the accident was reported in South Jeolla province when Jeju Air flight 2216 was returning from Thailand.
Two people were rescued by officials, who continued to evacuate passengers from the rear of the Boeing 737-8AS.
Of the 181 people on board, 175 were passengers and six were flight crew. Emergency services were rushed to the airport around 9 a.m. after the plane crashed into a fence and burst into flames following a failed belly landing attempt. In the visuals, black smoke is seen rising above the accident site.
It is believed that the accident was caused by “bird contact, resulting in landing gear failure”.
Video The moment the plane skidded off the runway and crashed into a South Korea airport
Acting President Choi Sang-mok called for all resources to be mobilized to rescue the passengers. “All concerned agencies should mobilize all available resources to rescue the personnel,” he directed officials in a statement.
Meanwhile, Jeju Air said it ‘sincerely apologizes’ for the plane crash. “We at Jeju Air will do everything in our power to respond to this accident. We sincerely apologize for causing concern,” the airline said in a statement posted on its social media channels.
It is the first fatal accident in the history of Jeju Air, one of South Korea’s largest low-cost carriers, which was founded in 2005. The aircraft involved in the crash was acquired from European low-cost carrier Ryanair in 2017.
On August 12, 2007, a Bombardier Q400 operated by Jeju Air carrying 74 passengers went off the runway due to strong winds at Southern Busan-Gimhae Airport, resulting in a dozen passengers being injured.
Second plane crash in a week
Sunday’s crash came days after an Azerbaijan Airlines passenger plane crashed in Kazakhstan on Wednesday, killing 38 people.
Azerbaijan Airlines Flight J2-8243 crashed and caught fire near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan after taking off from southern Russia, where Ukrainian drones were reported to have attacked several towns.
Russian President Vladimir Putin apologized to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev for the “tragic incident”. “It was noted in the conversation that the Azerbaijani passenger plane, which was traveling according to its schedule, repeatedly tried to land at the Grozny airport. At that time, Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles over Grozny, Mozdok and Vladikavkaz and The attacks were being carried out by Russian air defense systems, according to a Kremlin statement.
