Jeju Air plane crashes in South Korea: More than 60 killed after runway accident, fire
SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA - DECEMBER 29: People watch the news regarding the plane crash at Seoul station on December 29, 2024 in Seoul, South Korea. A plane carrying 181 people, Jeju Air Flight 7C2216, crashed at Muan International Airport in South Korea a
SEOUL, South Korea - South Korea's fire agency says that 62 people are dead after a plane caught fire during landing at an airport in the country's south.
The National Fire Agency said 37 women and 25 men had died in the fire. Emergency workers pulled out two people — one passenger and one crew member. It said it deployed 32 fire trucks and several helicopters to contain the fire.
Footage of the crash aired by YTN television showed the Jeju Air plane skidding across the airstrip, apparently with its landing gear still closed, and colliding head-on with a concrete wall on the outskirts of the facility. The transport ministry said the incident happened at 9:03 a.m. local time.
Emergency officials in Muan said they were examining the cause of the fire. They said the plane’s landing gear appeared to have malfunctioned. The transport ministry said the plane was returning from Bangkok and its passengers include two Thai nationals.
File photo (Photo by Fabrizio Gandolfo/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Local TV stations aired footage showing thick pillows of black smoke billowing from the plane engulfed with flame.
It’s one of the deadliest disasters in South Korea’s aviation history. The last time South Korea suffered a large-scale air disaster was in 1997, when an Korean Airline plane crashed in Guam, killing 228 people on board.