A Boeing 737 800 has skidded off a runway and crashed into a fence killing 179 passengers.
The plane carrying a total of181 people including crew members on board crashed at an airport in the country’s south at Muan International airport.
The flight departed from Bangkok heading to South Korea.
Report from South Korea indicates a landing gear malfunctioned. Emergency services say the landing gear could not properly be deployed.
The pilot attempted a landing earlier but was unsuccessful because of the landing gear malfunction. The pilot then aborted the landing and went around in a normal procedure in aviation hoping the landing gear will function and try again. The second attempt also failed though the pilot tried a belly landing.
The plane operated by Jeju Airline was immediately engulfed in flames after it failed to land properly.
The fire has been put under control and at least two people have been rescued. Those rescued were found at the very tail of the plane which didn’t suffer much damage.
Earlier in the hours of Sunday when the death toll couldn’t be confirmed, given the severity of the damage on the plane, rescue workers predicted that the number of casualties could rise.
The fire chief officer said concerning the damage on the plane and the two survivors “Only the tail part retains a little bit of shape, and the rest of (the plane) looks almost impossible to recognize.”
Suspicion however is that the Collison was caused by a bird that flew into the engine.
So far the two people who have survived are crew members.
South Korean aviation says this is the deadliest air crash in its history since 1997.
The cause of the crash is still under investigation.
