Moment A Jeju Airlines flight The plane skidded off the runway before hitting a concrete barrier and bursting into flames at a South Korean airport and was captured on camera.
The accident, which occurred on Sunday, killed 179 people on board. Only two survived, a man and a woman who were crew members.
Footage broadcast by South Korean television channels showed the plane sliding, apparently without the landing gear being moved. The plane overshot the runway and collided with a barrier, causing a fiery explosion. Video footage showed thick columns of smoke rising from the plane that caught fire.
The aircraft in question was a 15-year-old Boeing 737-800 airliner. The plane was arriving from Bangkok when the accident occurred at 9:03 am local time near the town of Muan. 180 miles south of Seoul.
Plane veers off runway in South Korea and crashes, killing 179 people: reports
Firefighters and rescue team members work near the wreckage of a passenger plane at Muan International Airport in Muan, South Korea, Sunday, December 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young Joon)
Kyle Bailey, a former representative of the Federal Aviation Administration's safety team in the United States, told Fox News that it appeared to him that the plane was flying very quickly when it skidded down the runway before hitting what he believed was a structure housing the landing gear.
“I think that's what led to the disaster for that plane,” he said.
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A rescue team carries the body of a passenger at the site of a plane fire at Muan International Airport in Muan, South Korea, Sunday, December 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young Joon)
Workers were able to recover flight data and cockpit voice recorders from the plane's black box. They will be examined by government experts investigating the matter Cause of accident and fire, said Jo Jung-wan, a senior official at the Ministry of Transport.
While it will likely take months to determine the cause of the accident, Lee Jeong-hyun, chief of Muan Fire Station, said workers are looking into various possibilities, including whether the plane may have hit birds.
Firefighters and rescue team members work at Muan International Airport in Muan, South Korea, Sunday, December 29, 2024. (To Nam-soo/Yonhap via AP)
Transport Ministry officials said that the airport control tower issued a warning to the plane shortly before it intended to land and its pilot gave permission to land in a different area.
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The fire chief said in a televised news conference that the plane was destroyed and that the tail assembly was the only recognizable part among the wreckage.
Fox News' Sarah Rampf Whitten, Chris Pandolfo and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
