South Korea has determined that 179 of the 181 aboard a crashed Jeju Air Boeing 737-800 died in the accident.
The disaster occurred during the morning of 29 December after the aircraft (HL8088) conducted a gear-up landing in Muan. It had just operated service 7C2216, an overnight flight Bangkok.
Of the 175 passengers and six crew aboard, two crew were rescued with injuries, according to South Korea’s official Yonhap news agency.
The crewmembers were apparently located in the tail of the aircraft, the only part of the jet somewhat intact after it exploded when it hit a wall beyond the end of the runway threshold.
The cockpit voice and flight data recorders have been recovered. These will play an important role in the inquiry into the disaster.
Footage from the ground before the crash suggests damage to the jet’s right side CFM56 engine at 08:54 local time, allegedly from a bird strike. This apparently happened as the jet approached runway 1. The crew then circled around to the opposite runway 19.
At 08:59 the crew declared mayday, and at 09:03 followed this with a high-speed, wheels-up landing on runway 19, apparently without deploying flaps or spoilers.
South Korea’s acting president, Choi Sang-mok, has ordered a probe into the country’s airline operations following the recovery of the wreckage in Muan.
