Families Grieve At Airport As S’korea Plane Crash Kills 179

A passenger plane skidded off a runway at a South Korean airport yesterday, slammed into a concrete fence and burst into flames after its front landing gear apparently failed to deploy.

All but two of the 181 people on board died in one of the country’s worst aviation disasters. The Jeju Air plane crashed while landing in the town of Muan, about 290 kilometres (180 miles) south of Seoul.

The Transport Ministry said the plane was a 15-yearold Boeing 737-800 jet that had arrived from Bangkok and that the crash happened at 9:03 a.m.

A total of 179 people — 85 women, 84 men and 10 others whose genders weren’t immediately identifiable — died in the fire, the South Korean fire agency said. Emergency workers pulled two people, both crew members, to safety. Health officials said they are conscious and not in life-threatening condition.

A survivor has woken up and spoken to doctors after the worst aviation accident on the country’s soil, reports the AFP. Among the 177 bod- ies so far found, officials have so far identified 88 of them, the fire agency said.

he passengers were pre- dominantly South Korean, as well as two Thai nationals. Ju Woong, Director of the Ewha Womans University Seoul Hospital, where one of the survivors was hospitalised, said the man was being treated in an intensive care unit for fractures to his ribs, shoulder blade and upper spine. Ju said the man, whose name wasn’t released, told doc- tors he “woke up to find (himself) rescued.”

Footage of the crash aired by South Korean television channels showed the plane skid- ding across the airstrip at high speed, apparently with its landing gear still closed, overrunning the runway and colliding head-on with a concrete wall on the outskirts of the facility, triggering an explosion.

Other local TV stations aired footage showing thick plumes of black smoke billowing from the plane, which was engulfed in flames. Lee Jeong-hyeon, chief of the Muan fire station, told a televised briefing that the plane was completely destroyed, with only the tail assembly remaining recognisable among the wreckage.

Lee said that workers were looking into various possibilities about what caused the crash, including whether the aircraft was struck by birds, Lee said. Transport Ministry officials later said their early assessment of communication records show the airport control tower issued a bird strike warning to the plane shortly before it intended to land and gave its pilot permission to land in a different area.

The pilot sent out a distress signal shortly before the crash, officials said. Senior Transport Ministry official Joo Jongwan said workers have retrieved the flight data and cockpit voice record- ers of the plane’s black box. He said it may take months for investigators to complete their probe.

The runway at the Muan airport will be closed until January 1, the ministry said. Thailand’s Prime Minister, Paetongtarn Shinawatra, expressed deep condolences to the families of those affected by the accident in a post on social platform X. Pae- tongtarn said she ordered the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to provide assistance immediately.

A man, whose nephew and two great-nephews were on the flight, says: “I can’t believe the entire family has disappeared, my heart aches so much”. Meanwhile, the Federal Government yesterday expressed sympathy to the government and people of South Korea following the tragic crash of Jeju Air Flight 2216.

In a statement issued by the Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Abuja, Kim- iebi Ebienfa, the FG conveyed its condolences to the bereaved families and expressed solidarity with South Korea during this difficult time. FG described the crash as a tragic loss and reaffirmed Nigeria’s support for the South Korean people.

“The Federal Repub- lic of Nigeria wishes to express her sincere condolences to the Govern- ment and People of the Republic of Korea for the unfortunate crash of Jeju Air Flight 2216 that occurred on Sunday, December 29th, 2024.

“The Federal Government of Nigeria sympathises with the Government of South Korea and the families of the victims of the deadly plane crash,” the statement read. And in a related development yesterday, an Air Canada plane veered off the runway at Halifax Stanfield International Airport with a broken landing gear.

According to reports, the aircraft skidded down the runway and caught fire after touching down with broken landing gear.

The aircraft, operat- ing as flight AC2259 and run by PAL Airlines, was said to be arriving from St. John’s when it experienced a significant mal- function during landing.

Reports said the incident occurred when the aircraft’s landing gear malfunctioned and caused the wing to scrape the runway, causing a fire. Although there were no fatalities recorded, this was the third aviation incident in one day.

Earlier yesterday, a Jeju Air passenger plane burst into flames on the ground in South Korea. Also, KLM Airlines’ Boeing 737-800 made an emergency landing at Oslo Torp Sandefjord Airport in Norway, after a hydraulic failure forced the aircraft to divert.

The plane, carrying 176 passengers and six crew members, landed safely but skidded off runway 18 during the rollout — coming to a stop in the grass near a taxiway. The cause of the incidents are still being investigated.