South Koreans entered a weeklong national mourning period on Sunday as investigators sought to uncover the cause of a devastating commercial plane crash that resulted in 179 fatalities, marking the country’s worst air disaster.
Two crew members survived and are receiving medical treatment for their injuries, according to South Korea’s acting President, Choi Sang-mok, who visited the crash site. The flight carried 175 passengers and six crew members, with victims ranging in age from 3 to 78 years, officials reported.
Jeju Air Flight 7C2216 was flying from Bangkok when it landed without its landing gear deployed, veered off the runway, and collided with a wall at Muan International Airport on Sunday morning, as stated by South Korea’s Transport Ministry. A significant portion of the crash was recorded on video.
As authorities released the names of some victims from the crash, families of the passengers were overcome with grief, weeping and screaming, with some collapsing to the ground. Investigators took saliva samples from relatives to conduct DNA tests for victim identification.
The control tower had issued warnings about potential bird strikes shortly before the pilots declared a “mayday” and attempted to land, according to officials. Local media footage showed the twin-engine Boeing 737-800 skidding down the runway before crashing in a burst of flames and debris. “After the aircraft hit the wall, passengers were thrown from the plane. The likelihood of survival was extremely low,” stated Muan Fire Chief Lee Jeong-hyeon during a briefing translated by Yonhap news agency. “The aircraft has been nearly entirely destroyed, making it difficult to identify the deceased. We are in the process of recovering the remains, which will require time.”
Jeon Je-young, 71, shared that his daughter Mi-sook lost her life in the crash.