A Jeju Air flight operating from Bangkok, Thailand to Muan in South Korea was involved in an accident during arrival.
In a video of the accident, which occurred on Sunday (29th December) at 9 am local time, the Boeing 737 could be seen touching down without landing gear before overrunning the runway, crashing into a wall and exploding. Pictures of the crash site show the aircraft engulfed in flames and almost completely destroyed. Furthermore, a brief fire coming out of the right engine is visible on a video taken of the aircraft during its approach on Muan International Airport.
According to South Korean authorities, there are at least 176 fatalities among the 175 passengers and six crew on board the crashed aircraft. Two people are reported to have been rescued, three more are still missing. Jeju Air says it has formed a support team to assist the emergency response and has set up a hotline for the relatives of affected passengers.
Flight 7C2216 was operated by a Boeing 737-800, registered as HL8088 and built in 2009. It is not yet clear what may have caused the fatal accident. South Korean authorities have launched an investigation on Sunday morning.
Just two days ago, the same aircraft reported an emergency on a flight from Jeju to Beijing, China, and diverted to Seoul Incheon for reasons not currently known, Aviation Source reported.
Jeju Air is a South Korean low-cost carrier operating a fleet of Boeing 737 aircraft. Muan is located in the southwest of South Korea.
Jakob Wert is an aviation journalist from Germany. He built up the website IFN.news and is the Editor-In-Chief of International Flight Network.
