The results, still provisional, are already terrible. This Sunday, a Jeju Air plane flying from Bangkok to Muan, in the southwest of South Korea, crashed on landing and then caught fire on the tarmac after hitting a wall. At least 120 of the 181 people it was carrying died.
A figure which could further increase since the searches to find survivors in the device have not been completed. This is the first fatal accident in the history of Jeju Air, one of South Korea's largest low-cost airlines, founded in 2005.
What happened?
At 9:03 a.m. local time this Sunday morning (i.e. 1:03 a.m. in France), a Boeing 737-8AS from Jeju Air, coming from Bangkok (Thailand), arrived at high speed on the airport's landing strip of Muan (South Korea), a city located approximately 290 km south of the capital Seoul.
According to a video broadcast by local channel MBC, the aircraft hit a wall at the end of the runway and immediately burst into flames.
What caused the crash?
Several avenues have already been put forward this Sunday. “The cause of the accident is believed to be a collision with birds combined with unfavorable weather conditions,” Lee Jeong-hyun, head of the Muan Fire Station, said at a press briefing, adding that the The exact cause would only be announced at the end of the investigation. According to South Korea's Ministry of Transportation, the airport's control tower sent out an alert about birds and, shortly after, pilots issued a distress call.
VideoTerrible plane crash landing in South Korea: at least 120 dead
Hitting birds in flight is the dread of pilots, especially when it comes to jet planes whose engines can quickly lose power or even stop completely after ingesting a bird. According to images from local channel MBC, smoke was escaping from the engines at the time of landing.
On its website, the South Korean channel explains that the plane had to make an emergency landing because of a landing gear failure.
Reuters reports that the device's black box was recovered.
Are there any survivors?
More than 700 people (firefighters, police, soldiers) are currently on site. For now, firefighters report two survivors, who are two members of the crew. Others could still be discovered, because the research is not finished, but hopes are very slim as the shock was violent and the device damaged.
Images broadcast by South Korean television channels show the wreckage of the plane completely charred except for the tail.
“The passengers were ejected from the plane when it collided with a barrier, leaving them with little chance of survival,” a local fire official said during a meeting with the victims’ families.
Who are the victims?
Several elements about the passengers present on the plane have already been revealed. Of the 181 people, 175 were travelers and six people made up the crew. Two of the passengers were of Thai nationality. According to local channel MBC, 54 men and 57 women died.
“The plane is almost completely destroyed and the identification of the deceased is proving difficult,” a local fire official has already warned during a meeting with the victims’ families.
