On Sunday, an airliner crashed into a wall at Muan International Airport in South Korea, killing at least 177 people in the deadliest air catastrophe in the country’s history.
South Korea’s transport ministry reported that Jeju Air (089590.KS) flight 7C2216, carrying 175 passengers and six crew from Bangkok, was attempting to land at the southern airport shortly after 9 a.m. (0000 GMT).
Two crew members were rescued, and officials believe the remaining two missing passengers are dead. According to the transport ministry, the deadliest flight accident on South Korean soil has also been the worst involving a South Korean airline in nearly three decades.
The twin-engine Boeing 737-800 was seen in local TV footage rolling down the runway with no visible landing gear before crashing with the wall in an explosion of flames and debris.
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Investigators are examining bird strikes and weather conditions as possible factors, Lee said. Yonhap news agency cited airport authorities as saying a bird strike may have caused the landing gear to malfunction.
The crash is the worst for any South Korean airline since a 1997 Korean Air crash in Guam that killed more than 200 people, according to transportation ministry data. The previous worst on South Korean soil was an Air China crash that killed 129 in 2002.
Experts said the bird strike report and the way the aircraft attempted to land raised more questions than answers.
