The incident

Air disaster in South Korea: impact with a flock of birds before landing

A Jeju Air company plane crashed while landing in South Korea. Investigations underway. 179 dead, 2 survivors

29 December 2024

Corea del Sud, l'amministratore delegato di Jeju Air si inchina in segno di scuse

4' min read

4' min read

A very serious plane crash hit South Korea on Sunday morning when a Jeju Air Boeing 737-8AS from Bangkok crashed at Muan International Airport, about 290 kilometres south of Seoul. The plane, with 181 passengers and crew on board, went off the runway during landing, hitting a barrier and immediately catching fire. At the moment, the official toll is at least 179 dead, with two survivors among the crew members.

The dynamics of the accident

According to initial reconstructions, the accident occurred at 9:03 a.m. local time. The authorities suspect that a bird collision damaged the aircraft's undercarriage, which was already in trouble due to unfavourable weather conditions. Shortly before the crash, the control tower had warned the pilot of the bird strike risk and suggested diverting the landing to another area. However, the pilot decided to proceed, sending an emergency signal moments before the plane overshot the runway and collided with a fence.

A video released by the local MBC channel shows the Boeing landing with smoke visible from the engines. Subsequent images, broadcast by various South Korean media, show the charred carcass of the aircraft, around which dozens of firefighters are working to recover the bodies. Only the tail of the plane remained intact, making it particularly difficult to identify the victims.

Lo stormo di uccelli che ha colpito l’aereo in Corea del Sud

The testimonies

First flames, then explosions. This is what witnesses told the Yonap news agency about the plane crash in South Korea. The Jeju Air Boeing 737-800 skidded during landing and crashed into a fence wall at Muan International Airport, about 288 kilometres south-west of Seoul, at around 9.07 am. Videos broadcast by local TV stations show the plane attempting to land without its undercarriage. Yoo Jae-yong, 41, who lives near the airport, said he saw a spark on the plane's right wing before the crash. "I was just telling my family that there was a problem with the plane when I heard a loud explosion," he recounted. Another witness, identified only by his last name Cho, recounted that he "saw the plane coming down and thought it was about to land when I noticed a flash of light," Cho said. "Then there was a loud roar followed by smoke and I heard a series of explosions." Another witness, Kim Yong-cheol, 70, said the plane failed to land on the first attempt, then got back up to try a second time just before the crash, recounting that he heard a "metallic scraping" sound twice about five minutes before the crash. Authorities believe that failure of the landing gear, probably due to an impact with a flock of birds, may have caused the crash.

Bird strike confirmed

Hypothesis confirmed a few hours later by South Korean Ministry of Transport officials, who said that, according to initial assessments of communication logs, the Muan airport control tower issued a bird strike warning to the aircraft shortly before it landed and gave the pilot permission to land in another area. The pilot then sent a distress signal shortly before the aircraft left the runway and crashed into a concrete wall.

Disastro aereo in Corea del Sud
Photogallery18 foto

Budget and relief

Rescue operations are still ongoing, with over 1,560 firefighters, police and military personnel on the scene. According to the national fire brigade agency, the death toll could rise further: 124 bodies have already been recovered, but the number of missing people remains significant. Among the passengers, there are also two Thai nationals.

The Ministry of Transport has confirmed the recovery of the flight data recorder (FDR) from the black box, while the cockpit communication recorder (CVR) is still being researched. These instruments will be crucial in determining the exact causes of the accident.

A vigilant and responsive survivor

One of the two survivors woke up in hospital and is responsive. This was reported by the Yonhap News Agency. The 33-year-old, whose surname is Lee, was a flight attendant on the Jeju Air plane. He was initially taken to a hospital in the nearby city of Mokpo, but was later transferred to Ewha University Hospital in Seoul. "When I woke up, I had already been rescued," he told doctors, according to hospital director Ju Woong, who explained that he had not yet asked the patient for details of the incident. "He is perfectly able to communicate," Ju said. "There are no indications of memory loss or similar symptoms yet." The survivor is currently being treated in the intensive care unit after being diagnosed with multiple fractures. The other survivor, a 25-year-old stewardess with the surname Koo, is being treated at the Asan Medical Centre in eastern Seoul, and is reportedly in stable condition.

Reactions and background

Today's disaster represents the first fatal accident in the history of Jeju Air, one of South Korea's leading low-cost airlines, founded in 2005. In the past, the company had only suffered minor accidents, such as the one in 2007 at Busan-Gimhae airport, in which an aircraft went off the runway due to wind, causing minor injuries.

Acting South Korean President Choi Sang-mok called an emergency meeting and will travel to Muan in the afternoon. "All relevant agencies must mobilise every resource to deal with this tragedy and save lives," Choi said in a note.

For its part, Jeju Air expressed its apology through a statement released on social media: 'We will do everything we can to respond to this incident. We bow our heads and apologise to all those who have been harmed."

A context of rare air disasters

Air accidents are rare occurrences in South Korea, a country with high safety standards in air transport. The most serious air disaster in recent history remains the one in 2002, when an Air China Boeing 767 crashed into a hill near Busan-Gimhae airport, causing 129 deaths. Other tragic precedents include the downing of a Korean Air Boeing 747 in 1983 by a Soviet fighter jet, with the loss of 269 lives.

With Sunday's accident, South Korea is once again dealing with a tragedy that strikes deep, raising questions about aviation safety and the effectiveness of protocols in emergency situations.