The crash of a Jeju Air Boeing 737-8AS at the South Korean airport of Muan killed 179 passengers. This was reported by UNN with reference to Associated Press.
A total of 181 people were on board. Initially, 151 people were reported dead, and another 28 were missing.
A total of 179 people died in the plane fire - 85 women, 84 men and 10 people whose gender cannot be determined, the South Korean fire agency reported. So far, 88 of the dead have been identified.
Only two crew members were rescued - according to doctors, their lives are not in danger.
The Jeju Air plane crashed while landing in the city of Muan, about 290 kilometers south of the capital Seoul. The Ministry of Transportation reported that the plane was a 15-year-old Boeing 737-800 arriving from Bangkok and that the crash occurred at 9:03 a.m. local time.
The fire department used 32 fire trucks and several helicopters to contain the fire. According to the fire service and the Ministry of Transportation, about 1,570 firefighters, police, military and other officials were also dispatched to the scene.
Video of the crash, broadcast by South Korean TV channels, showed the plane sliding down the runway at high speed, apparently with its landing gear folded, going off the runway and colliding head-on with a concrete wall, causing an explosion. Other local TV channels showed footage of thick puffs of black smoke billowing from the burning plane.
At the moment, the likely cause of the crash is a collision with birds and unfavorable weather conditions.
According to officials, air traffic controllers warned planes of the risk of collision with birds minutes before the crash
According to the data submitted to the parliament by the Korea Airports Corporation, the airport has the highest rate of bird collisions among 14 regional airports in South Korea.
Aviation experts say that collisions with birds can be catastrophic. The risk is particularly high in Muan because of its location near fields and coastal areas.