179 Dead In South Korea’s Worst Plane Crash

Authorities have identified a bird strike as the likely cause of the crash, which is being considered the deadliest aviation disaster on South Korean soil.

The impact of the crash was so severe that passengers were ejected from the plane, and it was described as “almost completely destroyed” by fire officials.

Footage captured the Jeju Air Boeing 737-800 landing on its belly at Muan International Airport, 288 kilometers southwest of Seoul.

The plane skidded off the runway, trailing smoke from its engines, before crashing into a wall and erupting into flames.

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Of the 179 victims, 65 have been identified, with DNA retrieval underway, according to South Korea’s fire agency.

Relatives anxiously awaited news inside the terminal, with tears and grief filling the air as names of the identified victims were called out.

The crash left only two survivors—both flight attendants—according to the fire department. “Passengers were ejected after the collision, leaving little chance of survival,” said a local fire official, adding that the plane was almost entirely destroyed.

Both black boxes, the flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder, have been recovered. Rescue workers used a large yellow crane to lift the wreckage, while plane seats and luggage were scattered across the field, showing the force of the crash.

The passengers on board were mostly South Korean, with two Thai nationals among them. The youngest passenger was a three-year-old boy, and the oldest was 78.

The crash occurred minutes after the pilot declared a “mayday” following a warning from the control tower about a bird strike. “It took about three minutes from the warning to the plane’s attempt to land,” an official said.

While the plane veered off the tarmac and struck a wall, officials ruled out runway length as a factor in the crash.

Jeju Air, which expressed deep apologies, promised full support for the victims’ families. Boeing also extended support, offering its assistance to the airline.

South Korea’s newly appointed acting president, Choi Sang-mok, visited the crash site and convened an emergency cabinet meeting.

The government declared a seven-day national mourning period starting Sunday and will set up memorial altars across the country.

This tragedy marks the first fatal accident in Jeju Air’s history since its founding in 2005.

While South Korea’s aviation industry is generally considered very safe, bird strikes have caused deadly accidents worldwide, such as the 2009 “Miracle on the Hudson,” where a bird strike caused both engines of a US Airways plane to fail, but no lives were lost.