179 feared dead as South Korea plane crashes; bird strike suspected

A Jeju Air plane flying from Bangkok in Thailand to Muan airport in South Korea with 181 people on board crashed on landing Sunday, with 179 persons feared dead and only two persons surviving.

Media reports said the Boeing 737-800 aircraft belonging to low-cost carrier Jeju Air, flying from Bangkok to Muan airport, was warned of a bird strike by the control tower, officials said, during its first attempt at landing shortly after 9:00 am (midnight GMT).

Minutes later, with the pilot issuing a “May Day” warning, it tried to land again, with video showing it attempting a “belly landing” without its landing gear activated.

A scary video shows the plane skidding along the runway with smoke trailing out, until it hit a wall at the end and burst into flames.

Investigations have been launched, but officials suspect the accident could have been caused by bird strike and adverse weather conditions.

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 — one official said this was likely not a factor, reports NDTV

“The runway is 2,800 metres long, and similar-sized aircraft have been operating on it without issues,” they said.

A bird strike is a collision between a bird and an aircraft in flight and it can be hazardous to aircraft safety and jets are especially vulnerable to loss of power if birds are sucked into the air intakes, according to the UN agency International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). A number of fatal accidents have occurred globally due to bird strikes.

In 2009, a US Airways Airbus A320 famously ditched in New York’s Hudson River after a bird strike on both of its engines, in an incident widely known as the “Miracle on the Hudson” because there was no loss of life. This has remained a exception to the rule of fatality.

The plane was flying from Bangkok, Thailand to South Korea’s Muan county, about 288 kilometres (180 miles) southwest of the national capital Seoul.

A total of 175 passengers and six crew members were onboard. Rescue workers plucked out two survivors — both flight attendants — from the wreckage.

Officials said there was “little chance of survival,” for others, adding that the plane was “almost completely destroyed,” during the crash.