The Jeju Air plane that crashed in South Korea on Dec. 29 was “almost completely destroyed,” an official said. Fire officials said that of the 181 people on board the Jeju Air flight from Bangkok, all but two are presumed dead. The aircraft crashed during an emergency landing at Muan International Airport in South Korea this Sunday morning, December 29.
Excavations take time
Rescue teams continue to search the wreckage where other bodies remain inside the fuselage. Two survivors, a passenger and a crew member, were extricated from the tail and are receiving treatment at a nearby hospital.
The Boeing 737-800 attempted a belly landing around 9:03 a.m. local time after its landing gear failed to deploy.
Korea’s worst air disaster
If the death toll is confirmed, it would be South Korea’s worst domestic civil aviation disaster and the first incident involving a low-cost airline in the country’s history, the JoongAng Ilbo reported.
The accident is unusual for South Korea, which has had a good aviation safety record in recent years.
It also appears to be the only fatal accident Jeju Air has experienced in its nearly 20-year history.
Jeju Air is Korea’s most popular low-cost airline, serving dozens of destinations domestically and across Asia.
The company’s chief executive told a news conference that the company had no history of accidents. He apologized to the families of the victims.
