KUMASI, Dec 29 (Futball Surgery)- South Korean Jeju Air plane when arriving from Bangkok veering off its runway taking emergency landing at Muan international airport has presumably killed 120 of the 181 members on board on Sunday morning.
Jeju Air released a statement to express their deep regret and apology for the incident.
“We at Jeju Air lower our head in apology to everyone who were harmed in this incident at the Muan Airport,” the statement read. “We will do all we can to respond to the incident. We are sorry for the distress.”
The plane, Boeing 737-800 skid along the runway at Muan international airport, South Jeolla Province, on Sunday morning before hitting what appeared to be a concrete barrier at high speed and bursting into flames as parts of the fuselage flew into the air.
The Jeju Air flight was heading from Bangkok and attempted emergency landing at Muan International Airport around 9:03am local time after its landing gear reportedly failed to deploy, according to Yonhap News.
South Korean transport ministry said the 181 on board consist of 175 passengers and 6 crew members, of whom majority are South Korean nationals.
Rescue service continue to search the wreckage where more bodies remain inside the fuselage. Two survivors, one passenger and one crew member, were pulled from the tail section and are receiving treatment at a nearby hospital, according to The Guardian.
Preliminary sources of the cause of the plane crash are citing a bird strike of the Jeju Air flight.
A local fire official said the crash had likely been caused by a bird strike and weather conditions. The strike may have caused the landing gear to fail, Yonhap said. The flight had reportedly attempted one landing before being forced to “go-around” when the landing gear failed to lower normally.
“The cause of the accident is presumed to be a bird strike combined with adverse weather conditions,” Lee Jeong-hyun, chief of Muan fire station, told a media briefing. “However, the exact cause will be announced following a joint investigation.”
If the hearing death toll is confirmed, this would be South Korea’s worst domestic civil aviation disaster and marks the first major casualty incident involving a low-cost carrier in the country’s history, reports the JoongAng Ilbo.
Previous major accidents on Korean soil include the 1993 Asiana Airlines crash in Mokpo that killed 68 people, and a 2002 Air China crash near Gimhae Airport that killed 129 of 166 passengers.
