The heartbreaking last words of a passenger on the Jeju Air flight that crashed, killing 179 people so far, have been revealed.
Jeju Air flight 7C2216, arriving from Bangkok, the Thai capital, with 181 people on board, was attempting to land shortly after 9:00 a.m. (00:00 GMT) at Muan International Airport in South Korea. when it left the track and exploded into a fireball as it crashed into a wall.
A passenger sent a text message to a family member to inform them that a bird was stuck on the wing of the plane, the News1 agency reported. The person’s final message was: ‘Should I say my last words?’
The accident is the worst suffered by any South Korean airline since the Korean Air accident in Guam in 1997, in which more than 200 people died, according to data from the Ministry of Transportation.
In a video from local media, the twin-engine Boeing 737-800 can be seen sliding down the runway with no apparent landing gear before crashing into a wall in an explosion of flames and debris. Other photographs showed smoke and fire engulfing parts of the plane.
Investigators are investigating bird strikes and weather conditions as possible factors. Local media cited airport authorities as saying that the bird strike could have caused the landing gear to malfunction.
The control tower issued a bird strike warning and soon after the pilots declared May, a Transportation Ministry official said, without specifying whether the flight said it had struck any birds.
About a minute after the distress call, the plane made its ill-fated attempt to land, the official said.
This photograph taken and released on December 29, 2024 by South Korea’s National Fire Agency shows the scene where a Jeju Air Boeing 737-800 series aircraft crashed and burst into flames at Muan International Airport.
Fire and smoke rise from the tail section of a Jeju Air Boeing 737-800 series aircraft after the plane crashed and burst into flames at Muan International Airport.
Crash site smelled of jet fuel and blood, Reuters witnesses say
Hours after the crash, mortuary vehicles were lined up to remove bodies and authorities said a temporary morgue had been set up.
The crash site smelled of aviation fuel and blood, according to Reuters witnesses, and workers in protective suits and masks combed the area while soldiers searched the bushes.
The Yonhap news agency quoted a fire official as saying that most of the 175 passengers and six crew members were presumed dead.
Authorities had worked to rescue people in the queue section, an airport official told Reuters shortly after the crash.
Two crew members, a man and a woman, were rescued from the tail section of the burning plane, Muan fire chief Lee Jung-hyun said at a briefing. The fire was extinguished at 1:00 p.m., Lee said.
“Only the tail part retains a bit of shape, and the rest (of the plane) looks almost impossible to recognize,” he said.
Authorities have moved from rescue to recovery operations and, due to the force of the impact, are searching nearby areas for bodies possibly thrown from the plane, Lee added.
The passengers included two Thai nationals and the rest were believed to be South Koreans, according to the Ministry of Transport.
Jeju Air Flight 7C2216 is engulfed in flames when it crashes into a wall following a crash after landing at Muan International Airport in Muan, South Korea.
Members of the South Korean rescue team search near the wreckage of the plane
South Korean soldiers inspect near the wreckage of a passenger plane at Muan International Airport
The wreckage of the Jeju Air plane is seen at Muan International Airport in Muan, South Korea, on December 29, 2024.
Firefighters remove the body of a passenger from the wreckage of a passenger plane at Muan International Airport on December 29, 2024.
The Boeing 737-800 aircraft, operated by Jeju Air, was manufactured in 2009, the Transport Ministry said.
Jeju Air CEO Kim E-bae apologized for the accident and bowed deeply during a televised briefing.
He said the cause of the crash was still unknown, that the plane had no history of accidents and that there were no early signs of malfunction.
The airline will cooperate with investigators and make supporting the bereaved its top priority, Kim said.
No abnormal conditions were reported when the plane took off from Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi airport, said Kerati Kijmanawat, president of Thailand Airports.
Founded in 2005, Jeju Air is a low-cost airline that operates international routes to Japan, Thailand and the Philippines, in addition to numerous domestic flights.
Boeing said in an emailed statement: “We are in contact with Jeju Air regarding flight 2216 and stand ready to support them.” “We extend our deepest condolences to the families who lost their loved ones and our thoughts remain with the passengers and crew.”
The US Federal Aviation Administration did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A family member of a passenger on the plane reacts at Muan International Airport on December 29, 2024.
Firefighters walk past people and families of passengers of the crashed Jeju Air Boeing 737-800 series plane at Muan International Airport in South Jeolla province.
Members of the Korea Crime Scene Investigation (KCSI) search the wreckage of the Jeju Air plane at Muan International Airport in Muan.
People and families of passengers of the crashed Jeju Air Boeing 737-800 plane react at Muan International Airport in South Jeolla Province
All domestic and international flights at Muan airport were cancelled, Yonhap reported.
South Korea’s acting president Choi Sang-mok, named the country’s interim leader on Friday amid an ongoing political crisis, arrived at the crash site and said the government was putting all its resources into dealing with the accident. .
Two Thai women, aged 22 and 45, were on the plane, Thai government spokesman Jirayu Houngsub said, adding that details were still being verified.
Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra sent her condolences to the families of the dead and injured in a post on X, saying she had ordered the Foreign Ministry to provide assistance.
The ministry said in a statement that it was in contact with South Korean authorities.