On the afternoon of December 29, the Korean Fire Department confirmed that 176 people were killed, 3 people were missing and 2 people survived in a plane crash at Muan Airport in South Jeolla Province on the same morning.
Jeju Air’s Boeing 737-800, carrying 181 people, had just returned from Bangkok (Thailand) and had a landing gear problem and had to land on its belly. The plane hit the fence at the end of the runway and exploded.
Image of Jeju Air plane landing on its belly and then exploding when it hit a fence
During a press conference on the afternoon of December 29, an official from the Korean Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said that air traffic control had warned the pilot about the risk of hitting a bird right before the accident occurred, according to the newspaper. The Korea Times. The exact time will be clarified when data is recovered from the black box containing flight data.
According to the official, the plane was about to land on runway number 1 when the air traffic control tower warned that it had hit a bird. Sensing danger, the pilot made an emergency call 1 minute later. The control tower instructed the plane to land on runway 19 on the opposite side.
However, 2 minutes after the call, the pilot made an emergency landing on the plane’s belly and crashed into a fence. Previously, Korean media published a text message from a passenger on the plane to relatives, saying that there was a bird stuck in the plane’s wing so the plane could not land. Witnesses on the ground said they saw sparks on the right wing of the plane before the accident.
Data shows that Muan International Airport reported 10 incidents of aircraft hitting birds from 2019 to August this year.
Only the tail of the plane remained intact
Authorities have found the black box containing flight data and are still looking for the box containing cockpit voice recorder data. There were two pilots in the cockpit at the time of the accident. The captain has 6,823 hours of flight experience while the co-pilot has approximately 1,650 hours of flight experience.
Officials emphasized that runway length was not a factor in the accident. Mr. Joo Jong-wan, Director of the Ministry’s Aviation Policy Department, said the runway at Muan airport is 2,800 meters long and has been used for both domestic and international flights.
“The Boeing 737-800 that crashed today could have landed on a runway 1,500-1,600 m long. It is difficult to attribute this accident to the length of the runway because other aircraft landed without problems. any problem,” an official said.
Both ends of the runway have a safety buffer zone before reaching the fence and officials confirm that the airport’s design complies with aviation safety standards.
A survivor’s first words
Rescue workers carried the victim’s body away from the scene
The male flight attendant who was rescued from the plane didn’t seem to remember what happened when he was examined by doctors at the hospital. After being taken from the back of the plane and taken to Mokpo Hankook Hospital, the flight attendant asked “What happened? How did I get here?”, according to the newspaper. The Korea Herald.
The victim said the last thing he remembered was putting on his seat belt before landing, thinking the plane was almost landing. He said he couldn’t remember anything that happened after that. The flight attendant suffered injuries to his shoulder and head. A female colleague of his also survived and is being treated at the same hospital. They both worked in the back of the plane.
Acting President Choi Sang-mok went to the scene of the accident and declared the southwestern district of Muan a special disaster area for easier state support. Mr. Choi pledged that the government would investigate the ultimate cause and adjust measures to prevent similar accidents from recurring.
In related developments, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced to stop operating the runway at Muan airport until January 1, 2025.
