Firefighters and rescue team members work at Muan International Airport in Muan, South Korea, Sunday.
SEOUL, South Korea — A jetliner skidded off a runway, slammed into a concrete fence and burst into flames Sunday in South Korea after its landing gear apparently failed to deploy. All but two of the 181 people on board were killed in one of the country’s worst aviation disasters, officials said.
The 737-800 operated by Jeju Air plane arrived from Bangkok and crashed while attempting to land in the town of Muan, about 290 kilometers (180 miles) south of Seoul.
Footage of the crash aired by South Korean television channels showed the plane skidding across the airstrip at high speed, evidently with its landing gear still closed, and slamming into a concrete wall, triggering an explosion. Other TV stations aired footage showing thick, black smoke billowing from the plane, which was engulfed in flames.
Firefighters work to extinguish a fire off the runway of Muan International Airport in Muan, South Korea, Sunday.
Firefighters work to extinguish a fire off the runway of Muan International Airport in Muan, South Korea, Sunday. (Maeng Dae-hwan/Newsis via AP)
The crash killed 179 people, the South Korean fire agency said. Emergency workers pulled two crew members, to safety. They were conscious and did not appear to have any life-threatening injuries, health officials said.
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Lee Jeong-hyeon, chief of the Muan fire station, told a televised briefing that the plane was completely destroyed, with only the tail assembly still recognizable in the wreckage. Officials were investigating the cause of the crash, including whether the aircraft was struck by birds, Lee said.
The control tower issued a warning about birds to the plane shortly before it intended to land and gave the crew permission to land in a different area, ministry officials said. The crew sent out a distress signal shortly before the crash, officials said.
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