Fire officials report that 179 of the 181 people aboard a Jeju Air flight from Bangkok are presumed dead after the plane crashed during an emergency landing at Muan International Airport in South Korea on Sunday morning, as reported by Yonhap News.
Search and rescue teams are combing through the wreckage, where bodies remain trapped inside the fuselage. Two survivors—a passenger and a crew member—were rescued from the tail section and are currently being treated at a nearby hospital.
The Boeing 737-800 attempted a belly landing at 9:03 a.m. local time after a reported failure of its landing gear.
Witnesses described hearing loud “bang” sounds as the aircraft hit the airport’s perimeter wall, splitting into two sections and igniting. Footage aired by local broadcaster MBC suggests a possible bird strike as the plane descended. Authorities are continuing to investigate the cause of the crash.
If confirmed, the fatalities would make this South Korea’s worst domestic civil aviation disaster and the first major casualty event involving a low-cost carrier in the nation, according to the JoongAng Ilbo.
Other significant aviation tragedies in South Korea include the 1993 Asiana Airlines crash in Mokpo, which claimed 68 lives, and a 2002 Air China crash near Gimhae Airport that resulted in 129 fatalities among the 166 passengers