Tragic Incident: Bird Trapped in Wing of South Korea Flight, Emergency Landing Results in Fatal Fireball and 179 Fatalities

Prior to the emergency landing and fatal explosion that may have claimed the lives of 179 individuals, the ill-fated South Korea flight had been given a warning about a potential bird strike.

The flight operated by Jeju Air, with 175 passengers and six crew members onboard, was en route from Bangkok, Thailand, when the tragic incident occurred at Muan International Airport in South Korea.

As the 15-year-old Boeing 737-800 made a belly landing, onlookers observed sparks emanating from the aircraft, followed by it skidding off the runway and crashing into a solid concrete wall.

Horror footage showed the plane being torn apart as it erupted into a ball of flames. 

South Korea’s Transport Ministry has today confirmed that the control tower had sent a warning message that the ill-fated aircraft had suffered a bird strike before the deadly disaster. 

Unverified video footage reportedly of the aircraft shows a burst of fire coming out of the jet’s right engine supposedly showing the moment the bird struck the plane.  

It is believed to have caused the jet’s landing gear to malfunction. Two crew members, a man and a woman, were miraculously pulled alive from the tail section of the burning plane.

News1 Agency reported a passenger sent a text message to a relative saying a bird was stuck in the wing.

Their heartbreaking final message read: ‘Should I say my last words?’

Authorities have confirmed 177 are dead, with the search for the remaining two people to continue through the night. 

‘After the plane collided with the wall, passengers were thrown out of the aircraft. The chances of survival are extremely low,’ a firefighting agency official told South Korean news agency Yonhap.

‘The aircraft has almost completely been destroyed, and it is difficult to identify the deceased. We are in the process of recovering the remains, which will take time.’

The two rescued crew members were taken to separate hospitals in South Korea city Mokpo before being transferred to Seoul. Their injuries are not life-threatening. 

Eyewitness Yoo Jae-yong, 41, who was staying at a rental house near the airport, told Yonhap news agency he saw a spark on the plane’s right wing before the crash.

‘I was telling my family there was a problem with the plane when I heard a loud explosion,’ Yoo said. 

Another witness, named only as Cho, was taking a walk near the airport when he saw a flash of light as the plane descended.

‘Then there was a loud bang followed by smoke in the air, and then I heard a series of explosions,’ he said.

A South Korean transport official earlier said that the plane had attempted to land but was told by the air traffic control to hold off after giving a bird strike warning. 

Around two minutes later the pilot called a Mayday and was given permission to land from the opposite direction. 

The head pilot had been in his role since 2019 and had more than 9,800 hours of flight experience.  

Marco Chan, a senior lecturer in aviation operations at Buckinghamshire New University, said the evidence suggested the plane had encountered a flock of birds ‘leading to suspected bird ingestion into the engines’. 

‘Witnesses reported hearing explosions and seeing flames from the right-hand engine, indicating potential damage,’ he said.

‘This damage may have caused a hydraulic system failure, which could explain the inability to deploy the landing gear.’

He said the tight timeline between the bird strike warning and the pilot declaring Mayday meant it ‘likely constrained the crew’s ability to troubleshoot effectively and assess all options, including possible diversion to an alternate airport with a longer runway’. 

‘The inability to deploy the landing gear forced the crew to attempt a belly landing on Muan’s 2,800-metre runway,’ he added.

‘The Boeing 737-800 is a reliable and widely used aircraft, and this crash appears to result from an unfortunate chain of events rather than a systemic design flaw. 

‘The findings from the investigation will provide critical lessons for preventing similar tragedies in the future.

‘Our thoughts are with the family and friends of all crew and passengers on Jeju Air Flight 7C-2216, and the aviation industry must learn lessons from this tragic incident.’

Foreign Secretary David Lammy this morning said in a message posted on X that he was ‘deeply saddened by the news of the plane crash overnight in South Korea’.

‘My heartfelt condolences go out to the people of South Korea and Thailand, and all those that have lost loved ones,’ he said. 

Other world leaders joined Mr Lammy in sending their condolences to the grieving families. 

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz wrote on X: ‘We have received terrible news of a plane crash in South Korea with many fatalities. Our condolences go out to the families of those killed in the crash and we wish the injured a speedy recovery.’ 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said: ‘On behalf of the Ukrainian people and myself, I extend heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families, the people of Korea, and Acting President Choi Sang-mok. We share your sorrow and stand with the Korean people in this time of grief.’

There were wails in the airport’s arrivals hall as families wept loudly when a medic announced the names of 22 dead passengers. They were identified by their fingerprints. 

One woman was carried away on a stretcher, apparently having passed out from shock.

The boards typically used for arrival and departure information were instead displaying the names, dates of birth and nationalities of the victims.

‘I had a son on board that plane … He has yet to be identified,’ one elderly man waiting in the airport lounge, who asked not to be named, told AFP

The death toll includes at least 82 men and 83 women, according to the National Fire Agency. 

According to authorities, the youngest passenger was a three-year-old boy and the oldest was a 78-year-old.

Five of the dead were children under the age of 10, authorities said, citing the passenger manifest.

The toll is expected to continue rising as the rest of the people aboard the plane remain missing following the horrific crash that is one of the deadliest disasters in South Korea’s aviation history.

Family members hugged and cried at the airport as Red Cross volunteers handed out blankets to bereaved relatives. 

One stood at a microphone to ask for more information from authorities. ‘My older brother died and I don’t know what’s going on,’ he said. ‘I don’t know.’

Mortuary vehicles lined up outside to take bodies away, and authorities said a temporary morgue had been established inside the airport. 

The bodies of 11 other passengers aboard the deadly flight were so brutally injured that their gender was not immediately clear, officials said. 

The passengers on board the flight included 173 South Koreans and two Thais, Yonhap reported. 

Of those on board, 82 were men and 93 were women, ranging in age from as young as three to 78 years old. 

Two survivors were miraculously pulled from the wreckage but all of the remaining 179 passengers are presumed dead. They were both crew members and are conscious, the fire agency said.

Thirty-two fire trucks and several helicopters were deployed to contain the fire. About 1,560 firefighters, police officers, soldiers and other officials were also sent to the site. 

Lee Hyeon-ji, a response team officer at the local fire department, said the death toll would likely continue to rise ‘due to the critically injured’. 

The Juju Air website this morning was changed to a black background with a message that read: ‘We deeply apologize to all those affected by the incident at Muan Airport. 

‘We will make every effort to resolve the situation. We sincerely regret the distress caused.’

In a post on social platform X, Thai prime minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra expressed deep condolences to the families of those affected by the accident. 

She said she had ordered the foreign affairs ministry to provide assistance immediately. 

Kerati Kijmanawat, director of the Airports of Thailand, confirmed in a statement that Jeju Air flight 7C 2216 had taken off from Suvarnabhumi Airport with no reports of abnormal conditions with the aircraft or on the runway.

Jeju Air issued a statement expressing its ‘deep apology’ over the crash and said it will do its ‘utmost to manage the aftermath of the accident’.

In a televised news conference, the airline’s chief executive, Kim E-bae, gave a deep bow with other senior company officials as he apologised to bereaved families and said he feels ‘full responsibility’ for the incident.

He said the company had not identified any mechanical problems with the aircraft following regular checks and that he would wait for the results of government investigations into the cause of the incident.

Haunting snaps taken from the scene shows a huge plume of smoke as scores firefighters with 32 trucks were tackling the blaze. 

The horror crash is believed to have been caused by ‘contact with birds, resulting in malfunctioning landing gear’ as the plane attempted to land at the airport in the country’s southwest.

The flight had reportedly attempted one landing before being forced to turn around and tried to land again when the landing gear failed to lower normally.

Footage has emerged of the moment the plane attempts to land – and appears to have an issue with its landing gear. 

The aircraft appears to slide along the runway, but it fails to slow down.

It then slams into the concrete wall at the end of the runway and erupts into a ball of flames. 

Frantic emergency services then rush to the scene.

According to Flightradar data, the plane was a 15-year-old Boeing 737-800 departed from Bangkok at 2.29am local time and was due to arrive at 8.30 but landed at 8.59am.

Boeing has said it is in contact with Jeju Air about the disaster.

In a statement the plane-maker said: ‘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 loved ones, and our thoughts remain with the passengers and crew.’

A photo showed the tail section of the jet engulfed in flames on what appeared to be the side of the runway, with firefighters and emergency vehicles nearby. 

Firefighters have since extinguished the fire and search and rescue operations have been deployed on site.

An on-site investigation has now been launched to determine the exact cause of the crash. 

Acting President Choi Sang-mok called for the mobilisation of all resources to save the passengers.

‘All related agencies… must mobilise all available resources to save the personnel,’ he instructed officials in a statement.

The country’s ousted president Yoon Suk Yeol sent his ‘deep condolences to the families of those who had died’. 

‘I extend my deepest condolences and sympathy to those who lost their precious lives and to the bereaved families who have lost their loved ones,’ Yoon said in a Facebook post.

‘I am overwhelmed with grief and sorrow,’ he added.

‘I trust that the government will do its utmost to manage the aftermath of the accident and support the victims. I also urge everyone to prioritise the safety of firefighters and all rescue personnel amid these urgent circumstances.

‘I will stand with the people to help overcome this difficult situation as quickly as possible.’

The Foreign Office has confirmed to MailOnline that no Britons were on board the flight. 

It is one of the deadliest disasters in South Korea’s aviation history.

The last time South Korea suffered a large-scale air disaster was in 1997, when a Korean Airline plane crashed in Guam, killing 228 people on board. In 2013, an Asiana Airlines plane crash-landed in San Francisco, killing three and injuring approximately 200.

Sunday’s accident was also one of the worst landing mishaps since a July 2007 crash that killed all 187 people on board and 12 others on the ground when an Airbus A320 slid off a slick airstrip in Sao Paulo and collided with a nearby building, according to data compiled by the Flight Safety Foundation, a non-profit group aimed at improving air safety.

In 2010, 158 people died when an Air India Express aircraft overshot a runway in Mangalore, India, and plummeted into a gorge before erupting into flames, according to the safety foundation.

Read more on our live blog, here: South Korea plane crash latest: Dozens dead after aircraft’s ‘landing gear fails’ with 181 onboard