The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport noted on the 28th that it is making every effort to manage the fire incident involving AIR BUSAN flight BX(ABL)391 (HL7763) which occurred at Gimhae International Airport in Busan.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport established the Central Accident Management Headquarters led by Jo Jung-wan, the Director of Aviation Policy, immediately after the accident. A local accident management headquarters is being operated at the accident site led by Lee Jin-cheol, the Director of the Busan Regional Aviation Administration.
Investigations into the exact cause of the fire and the appropriateness of preventive measures are expected to be conducted following the incident management.
According to the Aircraft Technology Information System (ATIS) of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, the accident aircraft is an Airbus A321-200 model that was manufactured on October 30, 2007, and is 17 years old. It was operated by Asiana Airlines, the parent company of AIR BUSAN, until May 2017, after which it was handed over to Busan Air.
AIR BUSAN had maintained a record of no accidents or near accidents for 12 years until last year, making it the only domestic airline, with over 100,000 flights, that had a safe operation record for more than 10 years; however, this incident has broken that record.
According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, a fire broke out in the rear cabin of the passenger aircraft that was preparing for takeoff with a total of 176 people on board, including 169 passengers, 6 crew members, and 1 maintenance technician, at around 10:15 p.m. at Gimhae Airport.
All passengers successfully evacuated using the emergency slides, and it has been reported that 2 people were injured during the evacuation process. Their lives are not in danger.
The fire on the passenger aircraft was extinguished at 11:31 p.m.