At least 167 people were killed today when a Jeju Air plane skidded and hit a wall at the end of the runway and exploded at Muan International Airport in South Korea, firefighters said.
Jeju Air flight 7C2216, which was flying from the Thai capital Bangkok with 181 passengers and crew on board, attempted to land at the southern airport at around 9 a.m. local time.
South Korea’s National Fire Agency said in a statement that the accident had triggered a Level 3 alert — meaning it was mobilizing to increase the response.
More than 1,500 emergency personnel have been deployed to the scene and a special disaster zone has been set up.
South Korea’s National Fire Agency has now confirmed that 167 people died in the crash.
“I assume the cause of the accident was a collision with a bird,” one of the two rescued crew members told local media, as the death toll rose to 167.
“Smoke was coming out of one of the engines and then it exploded,” Ku, a flight attendant in her 20s, told the Yonhap news agency.
Another survivor, steward Lee (33), said he did not remember the circumstances of the accident.
During a doctor’s appointment at the hospital, he allegedly asked: “How did I end up here?”
“I was wearing a seat belt before landing, it seemed like the plane had landed, but after that I don’t remember anything,” he added.
According to the newspaper Adju Business Daily, Lee suffered a fractured left shoulder and head injuries.
Both survivors are in hospital receiving medical attention.
The black box of the downed plane has been found, according to a senior Transport Ministry official.
Jo Jong-wan said the flight data recorder was taken from the black box, but workers are still searching for the voice recorder in the cockpit.
Transport ministry officials said their early assessment of communications records showed the airport’s control tower had issued a bird strike alert to the plane shortly before it intended to land.
The airport control tower also gave the pilot permission to land in another area.
But the pilot sent a distress signal shortly before the plane overshot the runway, skidded over the buffer zone and hit a wall, officials said.
