At least 85 people were killed Sunday in the crash of a Jeju Air plane at Muan airport in southwestern South Korea, according to a new toll announced by firefighters.
The plane, a Boeing 737-8AS from Bangkok with 181 people on board, crashed on landing and burst into flames. “So far, two survivors, 85 dead,” firefighters said in a statement.
Several passengers were pulled from the rear of the plane, said Lee Hyeon-ji, head of the South Jeolla province fire response team.
According to authorities, the accident occurred at 9:03 a.m. (00:03 GMT) on Sunday. The plane was carrying 175 passengers, including two Thai nationals, and six crew members, between Bangkok and Muan, a city located about 290 kilometers south of the capital Seoul.
The crash appeared to have been caused by “contact with birds, leading to a malfunction of the landing gear,” South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported. The plane landed on its belly and caught fire when it hit a fence at the end of the runway, she added.
Engulfed in flames
A video broadcast by local channel MBC shows the aircraft – a Boeing 737-8AS which entered service in 2009, according to the specialist site Flightradar – landing with smoke escaping from the engines. The entire device is then engulfed in flames.
The crash appeared to have been caused by “contact with birds, leading to a malfunction of the landing gear,” South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported. The plane landed on its belly and caught fire when it hit a fence at the end of the runway, she added.
Images broadcast by South Korean television channels on Sunday morning showed numerous emergency service vehicles and dozens of firefighters working around the wreckage of the plane, completely charred except for the tail, and evacuating bodies wrapped in blue shrouds on stretchers.
AFP
Acting South Korean President Choi Sang-mok has called an emergency government meeting. “All relevant agencies…must mobilize all available resources to save people,” he ordered in a statement.
Low “chances of survival”
“The chances of survival are becoming difficult,” said Jean Lapointe, retired airline pilot and civil aviation expert, during an interview on LCN on Saturday.
Having firefighters on site very quickly made their work easier and the rescue of several passengers, but the images of the explosion suggest the worst for the ex-pilot.
According to his observations, weather conditions are not to blame. Other hypotheses, such as the plane landing too far away, the airport fence too far forward or a major mechanical breakdown have not been ruled out.
However, Mr. Lapointe does not think that birds can prevent the landing gear from lowering.
“I've flown this type of plane or the equivalent for almost 15 years and the birds won't stop the landing gear from dropping,” he said.
“What is certain is that we have here a major accident at an important airport and the flames can often demonstrate the force of the impact of the plane near the landing strip,” he said. -he added.
AFP
This is the first fatal accident in the history of Jeju Air, one of the largest South Korean low-cost airlines, 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 (south), causing around ten minor injuries.
Plane crashes are very rare in South Korea.
Last year, a passenger opened an emergency exit on an Asiana Airlines plane about to land. The aircraft was able to land normally, but several people were hospitalized.
