Plane overshoots runway, crashes at South Korean airport
Seoul: A passenger plane burst into flames on Sunday after it skidded off a runway at a South Korean airport and slammed into a concrete fence when its front landing gear apparently failed to deploy, killing at least 62 people, officials said, in one of the country’s worst aviation disasters.
A separate report by Yonhap news agency, citing fire authorities, said that most of the passengers on board the plane had died.
Firefighters extinguish blaze after an aircraft crashed at Muan International Airport in Muan, South Korea.Credit: via REUTERS
The National Fire Agency said the fire was almost put out but officials were still trying to pull people from the Jeju Air passenger plane carrying 181 people at the airport in the town of Muan, about 290 kilometres south of Seoul.
At least 62 people — 37 women and 25 men — had died in the fire, the agency said. Emergency workers pulled out two people — one passenger and one crew member. It said it deployed 32 fire trucks and several helicopters to contain the fire.
Footage of the crash aired by YTN television showed the Jeju Air plane skidding across the airstrip, apparently with its landing gear still closed, and colliding head-on with a concrete wall on the outskirts of the facility.
The transport ministry said the incident happened at 9.03am local time.
Firefighters battle blaze after an aircraft ran off the runway at Muan International Airport in Muan, South Korea.Credit: via REUTERS
Local TV stations aired footage showing thick pillows of black smoke billowing from the plane engulfed with flame.
Emergency officials in Muan said they were examining the cause of the fire. They said the plane’s landing gear appeared to have malfunctioned. The transport ministry said the plane was returning from Bangkok and its passengers include two Thai nationals.
