A plane with 181 people on board crashed at South Korea's Muan airport after it veered off the runway while landing, with 177 people confirmed dead.
As per Yonhap news agency, the crash was reported in the South Jeolla province when the Jeju Air flight 2216 was returning from Thailand.
Two people - both believed to be flight crew - were rescued by authorities, which continued evacuating passengers from the Boeing 737-800's rear section. Two people are missing.
Among the 181 on board, 175 were passengers and six were flight crew. Emergency services at the airport began operations around 9 am after the aircraft crashed into a fence after a failed belly landing attempt and erupted in flames. Visuals showed black smoke rising above the crash site.
The crash is believed to have been caused by "contact with birds, resulting in malfunctioning landing gear", coupled with adverse weather conditions. "The plane is almost completely destroyed, and identifying the dead is proving difficult. The process is taking time as we locate and recover the remains," the fire department in Muan said in a statement.
Two minutes before the crash, the pilot issued a Mayday call, Ministry of Land. It added, "It took approximately three minutes from the control tower's mention of a bird strike warning to the aircraft's attempt to land on the runway again."
When asked if the accident happened due to the runway being too short -- video shows the plane coming off the tarmac and hitting a wall -- the official said this was likely not a factor. "The runway is 2,800 meters long, and similar-sized aircraft have been operating on it without issues," they said.
Acting President Choi Sang-mok called for the mobilisation of all resources to save the passengers. "All related agencies must mobilise all available resources to save the personnel," he instructed officials in a statement.
Meanwhile, Jeju Air said it 'sincerely apologises' for the plane crash. "We at Jeju Air will do everything in our power in response to this accident. We sincerely apologise for causing concern," the airline said in a statement posted on its social media channels.
It is the first fatal accident in the history of Jeju Air, one of South Korea's largest low-cost carriers, which was set up in 2005. The aircraft involved in the crash was acquired in 2017 from Europe's low-cost carrier RyanAir.
On August 12, 2007, a Bombardier Q400 operated by Jeju Air carrying 74 passengers came off the runway due to strong winds at the southern Busan-Gimhae airport, resulting in a dozen injuries.
Second Plane Crash In A Week
Sunday's crash comes days after an Azerbaijan Airlines passenger plane crashed on Wednesday in Kazakhstan, claiming 38 lives.
Azerbaijan Airlines' Flight J2-8243 crashed and caught fire near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan after diverting from southern Russia where Ukrainian drones were reported to be attacking several cities.
Russian President Vladimir Putin apologised to Ilham Aliyev, the president of Azerbaijan, for the "tragic incident". "It was noted in the conversation that the Azerbaijani passenger aircraft, which was travelling according to its schedule, repeatedly tried to land at Grozny airport. At that time, Grozny, Mozdok and Vladikavkaz were being attacked by Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles, and Russian air defence systems repelled these attacks," according to a Kremlin statement.
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