Plane crash in South Korea kills 179: what we know about the circumstances of the tragedy

The crash of the Jeju Air plane on Sunday December 29 on a runway at Muan airport claimed the lives of 179 of the 181 people on board. It was the country's worst-ever air disaster, according to the Korean press. The government has declared a week of national mourning.
 

The death toll from the air disaster in South Korea on Sunday morning rose as the day went on. Of the 181 passengers and crew on board the Boeing 737-800 from Bangkok that crash-landed on a runway at Muan International Airport in the southwest of the country, only two crew members survived, reports the Korea Herald. “The youngest passenger was a 3-year-old boy, while the oldest was a 78-year-old man. Two of the passengers were Thai nationals”, says the daily.

Flight 7C 2216 of Korean low-cost carrier Jeju Air attempted an emergency landing at around 9 a.m. local time, “without landing gear”, but crashed three minutes later into a concrete wall after leaving the runway, immediately turning into a fireball. “This is the worst air disaster to have occurred on South Korean soil”, says the Korea Herald.
 

The plane's fuselage was completely destroyed in the crash, making identification of the victims extremely difficult. Throughout the day, rescue teams continued their efforts to find the remains of the missing passengers, while temporary morgues were set up to receive the bodies.
 

Jeju Air, one of South Korea's largest low-cost airlines, founded in 2005, had been operating the Bangkok-Muan route for just one month, with four flights a week, explains the Korea Times. Its CEO, Kim E-bae, told a press conference in Seoul that there was no indication that the plane “could have had a problem”. Video footage showed the landing gear “malfunctioning”, but investigators “believe a bird strike may have been the cause”. A video also shows flames escaping from the engine under the right wing just before the crash.
 

The Boeing 737-800 is widely used around the world, particularly by low-cost airlines. It has an excellent safety record, says The New York Times. “The plane in question is very safe,” says Najmedin Meshkati, an engineering professor at the University of Southern California who has studied the aircraft's history. It is possible that the aircraft's landing gear failed to deploy due to “a maintenance problem”, but the expert does not rule out a bird strike as the cause.
 

Wetlands near Muan Airport and all along the west coast of the Korean peninsula are favorite resting places for migratory birds, reports The New York Times. “Photos circulated in local media showed birds flying in groups near the airport on Sunday.” The airport's control tower had issued a warning minutes before the crash, confirmed the Korean Ministry of Transport, which added that the aircraft's two black boxes were found at the crash site.
 

The Korean authorities have declared a national mourning period. Throughout the week, “memorials will be erected throughout the country, flags will be flown at half-mast on public buildings and civil servants will wear mourning ribbons”. The disaster comes as the country faces an unprecedented political crisis, as The Washington Post points out. On Friday December 27, South Korea's deputies voted to dismiss the country's interim head of state, Han Duck-soo, on charges of having “actively participated in the insurrection” following his predecessor Yoon Suk Yeol's failed attempt to introduce martial law on December 3. The new interim president, Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok, “pledged on Friday to overcome the crisis”.