A Jeju Air plane carrying 181 people from Bangkok to South Korea crashed on arrival at at Muan International Airport on Sunday, December 29, 2024, with only two survivors rescued so far and 120 confirmed dead.

The plane, after colliding with a barrier, burst into flames.

A collision with birds and adverse weather conditions were cited by the authorities as likely causes of the crash that flung passengers out of the plane and left it “almost completely destroyed”, fire officials disclosed.

A video showed the Jeju Air plane landing on its belly without wheels at Muan International Airport, skidding off the runway as smoke streamed out from the engines, before crashing into a wall and exploding in flames.

“Passengers were ejected from the aircraft after it collided with the barrier, leaving little chance of survival,” a local fire official told families at a briefing, according to a statement released by the fire brigade.

“The plane is almost completely destroyed, and identifying the deceased is proving difficult. The process is taking time as we locate and recover the remains,” AFP quoted the official as saying.

A photo showed the tail section of the plane – a Boeing 737-8AS according to Flight Radar – engulfed in flames on what appeared to be the side of the runway, with firefighters and emergency vehicles nearby.

“The cause of the accident is presumed to be a bird strike combined with adverse weather conditions. However, the exact cause will be announced following a joint investigation,” Lee Jeong-hyun, chief of Muan fire station, said during a briefing.

Lee Hyeon-ji, a response team officer at the local fire department, said rescue authorities had evacuated passengers from the rear section of the jet.

The Muan International Airport is in Muan County, which is about 288 kilometres (179 miles) southwest of Seoul.

The fire agency said it had mobilised 32 fire engines and scores of firefighters to the scene.

The accident took place at 9:03 a.m. (0003 GMT) on Sunday during the landing of Jeju Air Flight 2216, the Ministry of Land said.

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“A total of 175 passengers – including two Thai nationals – and six crew members were onboard,” it said.

The initial fire was extinguished and a search and rescue operation was “underway at the crash site”, it added.

Low-cost carrier Jeju Air apologised and vowed to do all it could to help.

“We at Jeju Air will do everything in our power in response to this accident. We sincerely apologise for causing concern,” the airline said in a statement posted on its social media channels.

It is the first fatal accident in the history of Jeju Air, one of South Korea’s largest low-cost carriers, which was set up in 2005.

On August 12, 2007, a Bombardier Q400 operated by Jeju Air carrying 74 passengers came off the runway due to strong winds at the southern Busan-Gimhae airport, resulting in a dozen injuries.

South Korea’s aviation industry has a solid track record for safety, experts say.

Last year, a passenger opened an emergency exit on an Asiana Airlines flight as it was preparing to land, with the aircraft landing safely but several people hospitalised.

A number of fatal aviation accidents have occurred globally due to bird strikes, which can cause a loss of power if the animals are sucked into the air intakes.

In 2009, a U.S. Airways Airbus A320 famously landed in New York’s Hudson River after bird strikes on both of its engines, in an incident widely known as the “Miracle on the Hudson” because there was no loss of life.

The Star