It was a very high speed exit from the track which seems to have led to the tragedy. In South Korea, a plane coming from Bangkok (Thailand) and carrying 181 people caught fire this Sunday at Muan airport, in the southwest of the country, killing at least 47 people according to a still provisional report provided by the firefighters.
Lee Hyeon-ji, head of the South Jeolla Fire Department response team, initially confirmed the deaths of 29 people, but said the death toll could rise due to the number of injuries. serious. At least two survivors have been identified so far, according to firefighters. It concerns a passenger and a member of the crew.
In the images broadcast by the television channel MBC TV, we can see the Jeju Air aircraft advancing at very high speed on the runway, from which it eventually exits before hitting what looks like a wall or fence and to explode. This Sunday morning, a photo taken after the accident showed the tail of the plane in flames on what appears to be the side of the runway. In another photo taken from further away, a long plume of black smoke rose into the sky.
The accident occurred shortly after 9 a.m. local time (1 a.m. in Paris), according to the South Korean news agency Yonhap. It could have been caused by “contact with birds, leading to a malfunction of the landing gear”, according to the same source. Authorities have launched an investigation at the site to determine the exact cause of the accident, they said.
The plane was carrying 175 passengers and six crew members. According to the specialized site Flightradar, the aircraft is a Boeing 737-8AS from the South Korean company Jeju Air, which entered service in August 2009. This is the first fatal accident in the history of this low-cost airline, one of the largest in the country, founded in 2005.
On August 12, 2007, a Jeju Air Bombardier Q400 carrying 74 passengers went off the runway in strong winds at Busan-Gimhae Airport, causing around ten minor injuries. Plane crashes are very rare in South Korea.
