On the morning of the 29th, around 9:07 AM, an aircraft landing at Muan International Airport in Jeollanam-do veered off the runway and collided with the outer fence. The photo is a capture from a video taken near Muan Airport, showing black smoke rising. /Courtesy of Yonhap News

At Muan International Airport in South Jeolla, a passenger plane carrying 181 people collided with the airport's outer wall after landing.

The aircraft involved in the accident was a B737-800, carrying a total of 181 people, comprising 175 passengers, including 173 South Koreans and 2 Thais, along with 6 crew members. So far, 2 people have been rescued from the rear of the aircraft, and 177 people are reported dead. Considering the front and middle passengers, the casualties are expected to be higher.

According to the Korea Airports Corporation and the South Jeolla Fire Headquarters, the Jeju Air flight 7C2216 from Bangkok, Thailand, attempted to land on the runway of Muan International Airport at about 9:07 a.m. on the 29th when it collided with the airport's outer wall. The aircraft was split in half and caught fire upon hitting the runway's outer wall.

Footage submitted as evidence of the accident shows that the Jeju Air 7C2216 aircraft had its landing gear not deployed when landing on the Muan Airport runway. Without the landing gear deployed, the belly of the aircraft made contact with the runway and continued straight for about 10 seconds. The passenger plane could not reduce speed and continued straight, eventually being engulfed in noise and smoke, and hitting the wall at the airport's end directly.

The National Fire Agency noted, “The first report was received at about 9:03 a.m., and the initial firefighting was accomplished by 9:46 a.m.” The firefighting authorities mobilized 80 personnel from the Central 119 Rescue Headquarters and the Air Rescue Team, and a firefighting helicopter, bringing the blaze under control in 43 minutes. Fire authorities are conducting rescue and casualty identification operations.

The accident plane reportedly crashed while attempting a belly landing due to landing gear failure. The Jeju Air 7C2216 flight, involved in the accident, departed Bangkok, Thailand, at 1:30 a.m. It was scheduled to land at Muan Airport at 8:30 a.m.

However, the accident aircraft approaching runway No. 1 at Muan Airport initially attempted to land but could not land correctly, so it performed a go-around and attempted to land again, resulting in an accident. According to an onsite official, the aircraft attempting the belly landing could not reduce speed until reaching the runway's end. Ultimately, the fuselage was damaged after impacting the airport's end structure, leading to a fire.

Particularly, there appeared to be evidence that the aircraft's landing gear, which corresponds to the wheels, did not deploy correctly and attempted a belly landing. The landing gear failure is speculated to have been caused by a 'bird strike.'

According to the industry, Jeju Air began regular flights to Nagasaki, Japan, Taipei, Taiwan, Bangkok, Thailand, Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia, and Jeju from the 8th. The 7C2216 flight, which was involved in the accident, traveled between Bangkok and Muan four times a week. The disaster occurred 21 days after the commencement of the route.

29일 오전 전남 무안군 무안공항에서 승객과 승무원 181명을 태운 여객기가 추락해 검은 연기가 솟아오르고 있다./독자제공