- A plane carrying 181 people crashed at an airport in South Korea on Sunday.
- Photos and videos show the aircraft overrunning a runway before being engulfed in flames.
- 179 people died, according to officials.
A commercial aircraft crashed at a South Korean airport on Sunday, killing 179 people, according to officials.
Flight 7C2216, operated by the Korean budget airline Jeju Air, was carrying 181 passengers and crew when it tried to land at Muan International Airport at 9:03 a.m. local time, but veered off the runway, per the Associated Press.
A video broadcast by MBC News, a South Korean news network, showed the plane speeding down the runway, with smoke coming from its belly, before it crashed into what appeared to be a barrier and burst into flames.
The flight was traveling from Suvarnabhumi International Airport, Bangkok.
The aircraft was a Boeing 737-800 that Ryanair, a budget Irish airline, operated before it was delivered to Jeju Air in 2017, according to the Planespotters.net flight tracking website.
The plane tried to touch down “without its landing gear extended,” the tracker said.
In a statement to Business Insider, Boeing gave its condolences to families who lost loved ones and said it was in contact with and “ready to support” Jeju Air. Spokespeople for Jeju Air did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
At total of 179 people died, the National Fire Agency said per AP: 85 women, 84 men, and 10 others whose gender was not immediately identifiable.
Authorities said they were working closely with bereaved families to identify the deceased and make plans to transfer their bodies. A temporary morgue was set up at the airport.
Two of the plane’s six crew members survived and were conscious, according to local health officials.
A male was transported to hospital, while a female was initially admitted to a separate facility and was scheduled to be transferred to a medical center, according to the transport ministry.
Over 1,500 personnel were mobilized, including 490 from the fire department, 455 police, and 340 from the military, according to the transport police.
In a statement posted online, Jeju Air said that it was “bowing” its head in apology and would address the crash.
Birds striking the aircraft may have caused the crash
Lee Jeong-hyeon, chief of the Muan fire station, said in a televised briefing that workers were investigating what caused the crash, including whether the aircraft was struck by birds.
He said the plane was almost completely destroyed, with the tail assembly the most intact part of the wreckage.
Officials said that air traffic controllers warned about bird strike risks minutes before the incident, and a surviving crew member mentioned a bird strike after being rescued, The Guardian reported.
Per South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency, Muan International Airport has the highest rate of bird strike incidents among 14 airports nationwide.
Keith Tonkin, the managing director of Aviation Projects, an aviation consulting company in Australia, told Business Insider: “it appears that the aircraft wasn’t configured for a normal landing — the landing gear wasn’t down and it looks like the wing flaps weren’t extended either.
“It also seems as though the landing was rushed — there aren’t any reports of the aircraft circling to prepare for the emergency landing, which is what you would do if were aware that the landing gear or flaps couldn’t be extended.”
He added: “Under normal circumstances, if the pilots were aware that they weren’t able to extend the landing gear or flaps — why didn’t they take the time to prepare for the emergency landing?”
The crash is the latest incident in a bad year for Boeing after an Alaska Airlines flight lost its door midair in January, resulting in aircrafts being temporarily grounded and passengers launching a class action suit. One of Boeing’s own shareholders was among others to launch separate lawsuits.
Boeing also underwent a leadership shakeup after an exodus of company executives, announced layoffs, and struck a plea deal related to two 737 Max crashes in 2018 and 2019 that killed 346 people.
Boeing’s stock fell about 35% this year, as of last week.
The crash occurred amid a political crisis in South Korea and two days into the tenure of acting president Choi Sang-mok. Choi took over from the country’s previous acting president, Han Duck-soo, who was impeached two weeks after succeeding president Yoon Suk Yeol, who was himself impeached after trying to impose martial law.
