South Korea Boeing 737-800 Air Crash Kills 179
Kanako Mita and Sawako Utsumi
Modern Tokyo Times
All passengers on the Jeju Air airline flight that left Thailand (Bangkok) died when the plane crashed on landing at Muan International Airport in South Korea.
The Boeing 737-800 flight had 181 people on board. Only two flight crew members survived the horrendous crash.
The management team leader of Jeju Air is adamant that the plane had no “maintenance issues.”
The BBC reports, “People here have lost husbands, wives, children, and grandchildren – many have lost multiple family members. Most were returning from a Christmas spent in Thailand.”
President Xi Jinping of China contacted the acting South Korean President Choi Sang-mok and expressed his shock and condolences.
Xi said, “On behalf of the Chinese government and people, I express my deep condolences to the victims and my sincerest consolations to the victims’ families, and wish for the swift recovery of the injured.”
However, it materialized that all passengers had died – with only two flight crew members surviving.
Family members of the dead were informed that a temporary morgue had been set up.
Jeju Air’s website says, “We deeply apologize to all those affected by the incident. We will make every effort to resolve the situation. We sincerely regret the distress caused.”
The BBC reports the words of Geoffrey Thomas (commentator and aviation expert) said: “It appears as though there has been a bird strike and one of the engines, the right-hand engine was impacted. This would have caused a lot of pressure in the cockpit.”
He continued, “With all the checking and cross-checking going on relating to this engine failure, it could well be that [the] pilots simply forgot to put the landing gear down.”
Video footage shows the plane in flames on impact. Also, early video footage (it could depend on the angles shown) shows no firefighting units close to the crash – despite an emergency being known.
Geoffrey Dell (an airline expert from Australia) said, “I’ve never seen a bird strike prevent the landing gear from being extended.”
The Guardian reports, “A transport ministry official said workers had retrieved the flight data and cockpit voice recorders of the plane’s black box. They will be examined by government experts. The runway is expected to be closed until 1 January.”
Choi – the acting President of South Korea – said, “We extend our deepest condolences and sympathy to the bereaved families of those who lost their lives in this unexpected tragedy.”
Reuters reports, “The Boeing model involved in the crash, a 737-800, is one of the world’s most flown airliners with a generally strong safety record and was developed well before the MAX variant involved in a recent Boeing safety crisis.”
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