Jeju Air Jet Crashes at South Korea's Muan Airport: 179 Killed, Two Crew Survive
South Korea's deadliest air disaster on its own soil occurred on December 29 at Muan International Airport in Muan County, South Jeolla Province. Jeju Air flight 7C2216 arrived from Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport in Thailand with 181 people on board: 175 passengers and six crew members.
South Korea's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said in briefings that the control tower issued a bird strike warning to the flight at 8:54 a.m., the crew declared a mayday at 8:59 a.m., and the aircraft belly-landed at 9:03 a.m. without its landing gear deployed, overran the runway and struck the localizer embankment at the runway's end, bursting into flames. Rescue authorities confirmed that evening that 179 people on board were killed and that only two flight attendants, seated in the tail section, survived and were taken to hospital. The Boeing 737-800 was manufactured in 2009. Both flight recorders were recovered.
All flights at Muan airport were canceled after the crash. Acting President Choi Sang-mok went to the scene, ordered all-out rescue efforts, and South Korea declared a national mourning period from December 29 to January 4. Jeju Air chief executive Kim E-bae bowed in apology at a press conference, said he took full responsibility, noted the aircraft had no record of accidents and no mechanical problems found in regular checks, and said the airline would await the government's investigation.
Under international aviation rules, the investigation is led by South Korea's Aviation and Railway Accident Investigation Board, with the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board, the Federal Aviation Administration and the manufacturer, Boeing, assisting as the state of design and manufacture. The cause of the crash remains subject to the official investigation; this story draws no conclusions about the relationship between the reported bird strike and the landing gear.
Source: South Korea Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：济州航空波音737-800客机（注册号 HL8088，即本次事故涉事客机）2024年12月25日在济州国际机场。정찬송 摄，CC BY 2.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: The Jeju Air Boeing 737-800 (registration HL8088, the aircraft involved in the accident) at Jeju International Airport on December 25, 2024. Photo by 정찬송, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
