A passenger aircraft skidded off a runway at a South Korean airport Sunday, slammed right into a concrete fence and burst into flames after its entrance touchdown gear apparently didn’t deploy. All however two of the 181 individuals on board died in one of many nation’s worst aviation disasters.
The Jeju Air aircraft crashed whereas touchdown within the city of Muan, about 290 kilometres south of Seoul. The transport ministry mentioned the aircraft was a 15-year-old Boeing 737-800 jet that had arrived from Bangkok and that the crash occurred at 9:03 a.m.
A complete of 179 individuals — 85 girls, 84 males and 10 others whose genders weren’t instantly identifiable — died within the hearth, the South Korean hearth company mentioned. Emergency employees pulled two individuals, each crew members, to security. Well being officers mentioned they’re acutely aware and never in life-threatening situation.
Among the many 177 our bodies thus far discovered, officers have thus far recognized 88 of them, the fireplace company mentioned. The passengers have been predominantly South Korean, in addition to two Thai nationals. Thailand’s international ministry mentioned its embassy in Seoul obtained affirmation from South Korean authorities that the 2 Thai passengers have been among the many fatalities.
The fireplace company deployed 32 hearth vans and a number of other helicopters to comprise the blaze. About 1,570 firefighters, cops, troopers and different officers have been additionally despatched to the positioning, based on the fireplace company and transport ministry.
Footage of the crash aired by South Korean tv channels confirmed the aircraft skidding throughout the airstrip at excessive pace, apparently with its touchdown gear nonetheless closed, overrunning the runway and colliding head-on with a concrete wall on the outskirts of the ability, triggering an explosion. Different native TV stations aired footage displaying thick plumes of black smoke billowing from the aircraft, which was engulfed in flames.
Lee Jeong-hyeon, chief of the Muan hearth station, instructed a televised briefing that the aircraft was fully destroyed, with solely the tail meeting remaining recognizable among the many wreckage. Lee mentioned that employees have been trying into numerous potentialities about what brought on the crash, together with whether or not the plane was struck by birds, Lee mentioned.
Get day by day Nationwide information
Get the day’s high information, political, financial, and present affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox as soon as a day.
Transport ministry officers later mentioned their early evaluation of communication data present the airport management tower issued a hen strike warning to the aircraft shortly earlier than it meant to land and gave its pilot permission to land in a distinct space. The pilot despatched out a misery sign shortly earlier than the aircraft overshot the top of the runway and skidded throughout a buffer zone earlier than hitting the wall, the officers mentioned.
Senior transport ministry official Joo Jong-wan mentioned employees have retrieved the flight knowledge and cockpit voice recorders of the aircraft’s black field, which might be examined by authorities consultants investigating the reason for the crash and hearth. He mentioned it could take months for investigators to finish their probe. The runway on the Muan airport might be closed till Jan. 1, the ministry mentioned.
Thailand’s prime minister, Paetongtarn Shinawatra, expressed deep condolences to the households of these affected by the incident in a submit on the social media platform X. Paetongtarn mentioned she ordered the Ministry of International Affairs to supply help instantly.
Kerati Kijmanawat, the director of Airports of Thailand, confirmed in an announcement that Jeju Air flight 7C 2216 departed from Suvarnabhumi Airport with no studies of irregular circumstances with the plane or on the runway.
Jeju Air in an announcement expressed its “deep apology” over the crash and mentioned it would do its “utmost to handle the aftermath of the accident.”
In a televised information convention, Kim E-bae, Jeju Air’s president, bowed deeply with different senior firm officers as he apologized to bereaved households and mentioned he feels “full accountability” for the incident. Kim mentioned the corporate hadn’t recognized any mechanical issues with the plane following common checkups and that he would look ahead to the outcomes of presidency investigations into the reason for the incident.
Members of the family wailed as officers introduced the names of some victims at a lounge within the Muan airport.
Boeing mentioned in an announcement on X it was involved with Jeju Air and is able to help the corporate in coping with the crash.
“We prolong our deepest condolences to the households who misplaced family members, and our ideas stay with the passengers and crew,” Boeing mentioned.
The incident got here as South Korea is embroiled into an enormous political disaster triggered by President Yoon Suk Yeol’s gorgeous imposition of martial legislation and ensuing impeachment. Final Friday, South Korean lawmakers impeached performing President Han Duck-soo and suspended his duties, main Deputy Prime Minister Choi Sang-mok to take over.
Choi, who travelled to the positioning in Muan, known as for officers to make use of all obtainable sources to seek out the lacking and establish the victims as quickly as attainable. The federal government declared Muan a particular catastrophe zone to supply help to the households of victims and designated a weeklong nationwide mourning interval by Saturday.
Yoon’s workplace mentioned his chief secretary, Chung Jin-suk, presided over an emergency assembly between senior presidential employees to debate the crash and reported the main points to Choi. Yoon expressed condolences to the victims in a Fb posting.
The Muan crash is likely one of the deadliest disasters in South Korea’s aviation historical past. The final time South Korea suffered a large-scale air catastrophe was in 1997, when a Korean Airline aircraft crashed in Guam, killing 228 individuals on board. In 2013, an Asiana Airways aircraft crash-landed in San Francisco, killing three and injuring roughly 200.
Sunday’s incident was additionally one of many worst touchdown mishaps since a July 2007 crash that killed all 187 individuals on board and 12 others on the bottom when an Airbus A320 slid off a slick airstrip in Sao Paulo and collided with a close-by constructing, based on knowledge compiled by the Flight Security Basis, a non-profit group aimed toward enhancing air security. In 2010, 158 individuals died when an Air India Specific plane overshot a runway in Mangalore, India, and plummeted right into a gorge earlier than erupting into flames, based on the protection basis. World leaders expressed their sympathies as South Korea handled the tragedy.
Throughout his Angelus prayer in Rome’s St. Peter’s Sq., Pope Francis mentioned he joins in “prayer for the survivors and the useless.” Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba mentioned he was “deeply saddened by the lack of many valuable lives” in a message launched by Tokyo’s International Ministry. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy mentioned on X that “every life misplaced is an immeasurable tragedy” and that he extends his “heartfelt condolences” on behalf of Ukrainian individuals and himself.
— With recordsdata from The Related Press’ Bobby Caina Calvan, Chalida Ekvitthayavechnukul, Jintamas Saksornchai, Mari Yamaguchi and Giada Zampano
© 2024 The Canadian Press
Source link