All passengers and most crew members died in a plane that crashed while landing at an airport in South Korea on Sunday.
They were traveling from Bangkok to Muan-gun county.
We connect with our Park Kun-woo at the Muan International Airport.
Kun-woo, walk us through the crash.
Yes Dami, I’m currently standing close to the site of the crash at Muan International Airport in Muan-gun County, in southwest South Korea.
The Jeju Air flight departed from Bangkok on Sunday and was scheduled to land at Muan International Airport at around 8:30 AM on the same day, but crashed due to what some watchers are saying was a malfunction that affected the aircraft’s landing gear.
The flight crew had received a warning from the airport’s control tower about a bird strike hazard during its first landing attempt.
Shortly after the pilot sent a “mayday” call and initiated a go-around instead of landing.
After making a 180-degree turn, the aircraft entered the runway from the opposite end.
Instead of landing at the beginning of the runway, the aircraft made contact further along the runway at high speed, using the “gear up” or “belly landing” method.
The aircraft skidded along the runway, collided with a wall, and became engulfed in flames, killing most people on board.
What’s even more heartbreaking is that most of the passengers were those on their family trips during the holiday period.
Tell us more about the casualties.
The incident claimed the lives of 1-hundred-79 people out of the 1-hundred-81 on board, including six crew members.
The majority of the passengers were Koreans except for two Thai nationals.
Most of the victims are believed to have been returning from trips to Bangkok during the Christmas holidays.
Two flight attendants were rescued from the wreckage of the plane and are now in separate hospitals located in Seoul.
A male flight attendant who survived reportedly suffered from memory loss following the crash and said the last thing he remembers is fastening his seat belt before landing.
We’re also learning that there are passengers who are yet to be identified.
How is that process coming along?
The search for victims ended after 11 hours, however, the search for personal belongings is ongoing with the help of around 1-thousand-5-hundred rescue personnel.
DNA samples from bereaved families were collected at the airport on Sunday, and the identities of at least 140 people have been verified as of around 7 AM Monday morning.
A temporary morgue has been set up at the Muan airport.
Also, the aircraft is confirmed as being a Boeing 737-800, which is used by many domestic airlines, and around 100 such aircraft in service, concerns are rising.
That’s all I have for you now, but I’ll be back with more updates later on.
Back to you Dami.
Source : Arirang TV, https://www.arirang.com/news/view?id=279431
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