SEOL: A passenger jet carrying 181 people has crashed in South Korea, killing at least 124 people.
Two crew members have been rescued but all other missing people are now presumed to have been killed, according to firefighting authorities.Rescuers are attempting to pull people from the wreckage of the plane after it veered off a runway at Muan International Airport and crashed into a wall, bursting into flames.The plane, which was carrying 175 passengers and six crew members, was making a second attempt at a crash landing after its landing gear failed to open, local media reports.
Officials say a collision with a bird may have caused the malfunction, reports Yonhap News Agency.
The airport’s control tower warned the plane about the bird strike ahead of the crash, according to South Korea’s transport ministry.
A passenger texted a relative to say a bird was stuck in the wing of the plane, News1 reports.
Their final message was said to have been: “Should I say my last words?”
Weather conditions were also being looked into as a suspected cause of the crash.
Most of the passengers aboard the Jeju Air plane were holidaymakers returning from a five-day Christmas package tour to Bangkok, according to South Korean news agency Newsis.
Footage aired by YTN television showed the moment the plane slammed into the wall at the airport and burst into flames, after skidding off the runway without its landing gear deployed.
Further photos shared by local media showed smoke and flames engulfing much of the plane.
Lee Jeong-hyeon, chief of the Muan fire station, said rescue teams were searching for bodies scattered by the impact of the crash.
The plane was completely destroyed with only the tail recognisable among the wreckage, he added.
Officials said the fire has been extinguished and South Korea’s transport ministry said the incident happened at 9.03am local time on Sunday (shortly after midnight in the UK).
Jeju Air flight 7C2216, a Boeing 737-800 jet, was on its way back from Bangkok, Thailand, at the time of the crash.
Authorities are now attempting to confirm the identities of victims using the passenger manifest with aircraft seating positions.
Among those on board were 173 South Koreans and two Thai people, local media reports.
All domestic and international flights from Muan International Airport have been cancelled.
The incident marks one of the deadliest disasters in South Korea’s aviation history.
The last time the country suffered a large-scale air disaster was in 2002, when an Air China aircraft crashed into a hill near the airport in Busan, killing 129 people.
“We are in contact with Jeju Air regarding flight 2216 and stand ready to support them,” said a Boeing spokesperson.
“We extend our deepest condolences to the families who lost loved ones, and our thoughts remain with the passengers and crew.”
