A Jeju Air Flight burst into flames after the plane crash landed at Muan Airport in South Korea, killing passengers and most of the crew.
The aircraft, which was returning from Bangkok, Thailand, was carrying 181 people including six crew members. Two survivors pulled from the tail section of the wreckage and taken to hospital for treatment.
Investigators are currently looking into the cause of the crash, with bird strike being a potential factor.
As rescue workers pulled bodies from the burning wreckage, families of those onboard arrived at the airport in tears. Due to the intensity of the flames, many victims could only be identified by their fingerprints.
Maeng Gi-su, whose nephew’s family was aboard the plane, said it was their family’s first time traveling abroad to celebrate the youngest having finished his college entrance exams.
Jongluk Doungmanee, a mother of two, was another passenger who was on the plane. She had traveled to visit family in Thailand and was returning home to South Korea when the plane crash landed.
According to Yonhap news agency, the passengers included 173 South Koreans and two Thai nationals, who were between the ages of 3 and 78.
Video footage of the fiery crash, which occured at 9 a.m. local time, showed the plane landing without wheels. It eventually overshot the runway and crashed into a nearby wall before exploding into flames.
Transport officials said the aircraft had run into some difficulties as it approached the airport, with the pilot pulling out of the first landing attempt due to bird interference.
Minutes later, a mayday call came in from the pilot, who was advised to land in the opposite direction on the runway.
While the investigation is still underway, officials believe bad weather and a bird strike may have contributed to the crash. However some aviation experts are questioning whether these factors were enough to result in such a fatal crash.
According to a local news agency, one passenger had sent a text message to their relative prior to the crash, stating that a bird had struck the wing. However, this has not yet been confirmed.
Aviation journalist Gregory Alegi said ‘many things don’t make sense about this tragedy’ and that there are ‘more questions than answers’.
The crash marks is another tragedy for South Korea, which is undergoing a political crisis after President Yoon Suk Yeol was impeached.
Choi Sang-mok, the acting president of South Korea, visited the crash site on Sunday. He offered his deepest condolences to the victims and their families and said he will do ‘everything [he] can to help the injured recover.’
The Jeju Air Crash is the worst airplane disaster since the 1997 Korean Air Crash in Guam, which killed over 200 people. It’s also the first fatal accident for Jeju Air, one of the biggest low-cost airlines in South Korea.
