On Sunday, a jetliner skidded off a runway, slammed into a concrete fence and burst into flames in South Korea after its landing gear apparently failed to deploy.
According to officials, all but two of the 181 people on board were killed.
The 737-800 operated by Jeju Air plane arrived from Bangkok and crashed while attempting to land in the town of Muan, about 290 kilometers (180 miles) south of Seoul.
The South Korea fire emergency reported that the crash killed 179 people, revealing that the emergency workers pulled two crew members, to safety. They were conscious and did not appear to have any life-threatening injuries.
Lee Jeong-hyeon, chief of the Muan fire station, told a televised briefing that the plane was completely destroyed, with only the tail assembly still recognizable in the wreckage. Officials were investigating the cause of the crash, including whether the aircraft was struck by birds, Lee said.
The control tower issued a warning about birds to the plane shortly before it intended to land and gave the crew permission to land in a different area, ministry officials said. The crew sent out a distress signal shortly before the crash, officials said.
Senior Transport Ministry official Joo Jong-wan said workers retrieved the jet’s flight data and cockpit voice recorders. He said it may take months for investigators to complete their probe. The runway at the Muan airport will be closed until Jan. 1, the ministry said.
Kyle Bailey, former FAA safety team representative in the U.S., told Fox News that it appeared to him that the aircraft was traveling too fast as it skidded on the runway before striking what he believed was a structure that housed instrument landing equipment.
“I think that’s pretty much what spelled disaster for that airplane,” he said.
One of the survivors was being treated for fractures to his ribs, shoulder blade and upper spine, said Ju Woong, director of the Ewha Womans University Seoul Hospital. Ju said the man, whose name was not released, told doctors he “woke up to find (himself) rescued.” Details on the other survivor were not immediately available.
The passengers were predominantly South Korean and included two people from Thailand. Officials identified 88 of them in the hours after the crash, the fire agency said.
Boonchuay Duangmanee, the father of a Thai passenger, told The Associated Press that his daughter, Jongluk, had been working in a factory in South Korea for several years and returned to Thailand to visit her family.
“I never thought that this would be the last time we would see each other forever,” he said.
Kerati Kijmanawat, the director of Thailand’s airports, confirmed in a statement that Jeju Air flight 7C 2216 departed from Suvarnabhumi Airport with no reports of anything abnormal aboard the aircraft or on the runway.
Jeju Air in a statement expressed its “deep apology” over the crash and said it will do its “utmost to manage the aftermath of the accident.”
In a televised news conference, the company’s president, Kim E-bae, bowed deeply with other senior company officials as he apologized to bereaved families and said he feels “full responsibility” for the crash. Kim said the company had not identified any mechanical problems with the aircraft following regular checkups and that he would wait for the results of government investigations into the cause of the incident.
Boeing said in a statement on X that it was in contact with Jeju Air and was ready to support the company in dealing with the crash.