Seoul: A Jeju Air plane carrying 181 people from Bangkok to South Korea crashed on arrival on Sunday, killing at least 85, emergency services said, with a bird strike and adverse weather conditions cited as likely causes.
Two survivors — one crew and one passenger — were plucked from the wreckage as part of an ongoing rescue operation, the national fire agency said in a statement.
MBC broadcaster showed the Jeju Air plane landing at Muan International Airport’s runway, with smoke streaming out from the engines, before the entire aircraft was quickly engulfed in flames.
“The cause of the accident is presumed to be a bird strike combined with adverse weather conditions. However, the exact cause will be announced following a joint investigation,” Lee Jeong-hyun, chief of Muan fire station, said during a briefing.
In its latest update of the rescue operation, the National Fire Agency said: “So far, two rescued and 85 dead.” Lee Hyeon-ji, a response team officer at the local fire department, had earlier warned that “the tally could rise due to the critically injured”.
Rescue authorities were evacuating passengers from the rear section of the jet, Lee said.
A photo showed the tail section of the plane — a Boeing 737-8AS according to Flight Radar — engulfed in flames on what appeared to be the side of the runway, with firefighters and emergency vehicles nearby.
The Muan International Airport is in Muan county, which is about 288 kilometres southwest of Seoul.
The fire agency said it had mobilised 32 fire engines and scores of fire fighters to the scene.
The accident took place at 9:03am (0003 GMT) on Sunday during the landing of Jeju Air Flight 2216, the Ministry of Land said.
“A total of 175 passengers — including two Thai nationals — and six crew members were onboard,” it said.
The initial fire was extinguished and a search and rescue operations was “under way at the crash site”, it said in a statement at around 11am local.
Low-cost carrier Jeju Air apologised and vowed to do all it could to help.
“We at Jeju Air will do everything in our power in response to this accident. We sincerely apologise for causing concern,” the airline said in a statement posted on its social media channels.
