According to emergency responders in action at South Korea’s Muan International Airport, there are only two survivors of the shocking accident of a Jeju Air low-cost airline Boeing that crashed during an emergency landing. Aboard the aircraft arriving from Bangkok were 181 people.
Rescue teams continue to search through the wreckage for bodies inside the fuselage. The two survivors, a passenger and a crew member, were pulled from the tail section and are receiving treatment at a nearby hospital.
The plane, a Boeing 737-800 operating as flight 7C2216 from Bangkok, attempted a belly landing, around 9:03 a.m. local time. Witnesses reported hearing loud noises before the aircraft hit the airport boundary wall, breaking into two parts and bursting into flames. Local broadcaster MBC broadcast footage appeared to show the impact with a bird as the plane was descending.
Rescue teams divided the crash site into three zones along the plane’s fuselage. However, fire officials told families at a briefing in the airport terminal that the chances of survival for the missing passengers are “virtually nil” due to the severity of the crash and the fire that enveloped the aircraft.
According to local media, many of the passengers were families returning from Christmas vacation in Thailand. On board were 175 passengers (173 South Koreans and two Thais) and six crew members.
This is South Korea’s worst domestic civil aviation disaster and the first major accident involving a low-cost carrier in the country’s history, reports the JoongAng Ilbo news outlet.
Previous major accidents on Korean soil include the 1993 Asiana Airlines crash at Mokpo, which killed 68 people, and the 2002 Air China crash near Gimhae Airport, which killed 129 of 166 passengers.
