Airliner Crashes at South Korean Airport; Multiple Fatalities & Injured

[Webster]

(The Guardian) Opening summary
Casualties are being reported after an aircraft carrying 175 passengers and six flight attendants veered off the runway and crashed into a fence in South Korea, the Yonhap news agency reported on Sunday.

The agency said 23 casualties had been reported so far and that rescues were under way from Jeju Air flight 2216 from Bangkok.

Large plumes of smoke could be seen rising into the sky in early unverified images emerging on social media.

Emergency services received the call at Muan international airport in South Jeolla province at around 9am South Korean time.

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28 feared dead, fire authorities reported as saying
South Korean news agency News1 reports that approximately 28 people are feared dead in the crash, according to fire authorities. Two people have been rescued, with emergency services continuing their search operations.

The aircraft, a Boeing 737-800, was carrying 175 passengers and six crew members when it struck a perimeter wall during landing, breaking apart and catching fire. Fire services have issued their highest level-3 emergency response.

 

[Webster]

(The Guardian) 9:01pm Summary
--Dozens are feared dead after a plane skidded off the runway while attempting a landing without landing gear at Muan international airport in South Korea on Sunday morning
--The exact casualty figures have not yet been tallied, though authorities are provisionally reporting that 28 people are believed to have died, according to news agency Newsis. Fire officials have warned that given the severe damage to the aircraft, the number of casualties could rise.
--Jeju Air flight 2216 from Bangkok to Muan was carrying 181 people – 175 passengers and six crew – when it came down, skidded along the runway and hit fencing and a wall around the perimeter before catching fire.
--Rescues are underway, with two people brought out of the wreckage so far. Emergency services are continuing their search operation.
--The Boeing 737-800 may have suffered a bird strike that caused the landing gear to fail, according news agency Yonhap.
--South Korea’s acting president, Choi Sang-mok, has ordered “all available equipment and personnel to be mobilised” for the rescue operations at Muan international airport in the country’s south-west and is heading to the crash site, about 300km from the capital, Seoul.