On 29th December 2024, a Jeju Air Boeing 737 crashed during a belly landing at Muan International Airport in South Korea, killing 179 individuals onboard.
The Boeing 737-800 with registration HL8088 was operating flight 7C2216 from Bangkok to Muan with 175 passengers and six crew members onboard, as reported by Aero World.
However, on landing at Muan International Airport, located approximately 288 kilometers from Seoul, the B737 veered off the runway and collided with a fence before bursting into flames.
Disturbing video footage captured the aircraft’s failed belly landing attempt, followed by the explosion.
Emergency responders reported 179 fatalities, whereas two survivors were pulled from the debris and taken to hospital. Witnesses described a massive fireball at the crash site.
However, it’s unknown if the crew declared an emergency before touching down as no firefighting vehicles appear to be present in the footage of the belly landing.
The cause of the incident remains unknown, and investigators are working to determine the events leading to the crash.
Some reports are even suspecting a bird strike to be the reason behind the incident.
Following the incident, Muan International Airport has been temporarily closed, and emergency teams have been on-site assisting survivors and recovering victims.
This is a developing story.
Featured Image via Yonhap News Agency
Prayers and Condolences to the families of passengers, crew, everyone affected by the tragedy.
A bird strike alone cannot cause the loss of the three hydraulic systems on a 737.
In my opinion the bird strike/compressor stall caused a chain of events that created a rushed panic for the crew to get back on the ground.
They did one attempt and did a go around. The second attempt saw the aircraft land without landing gear nor any flaps, slats or spoilers.
The #2 engine appeared to be in reverse thrust, but could be damage caused during the belly landing.
Regardless, and I’m just offering a hypothesis, listening to the way the engines sounded during the belly landing slide, it sounded to me as if the pilots decided to try to take off then hit the reinforced concrete wall at near take off speed. Those engines were screaming.
They may have botched up the second landing attempt in their rush (forgot to deploy gear and flaps or the two pilots were doing different things – go around or belly land) and decided to go around/ take off, applying maximum thrust, however with the short runway and severe drag, and no flaps, there was no possibility this could have succeeded.
They have finally found out that both engines were damaged by bird strike, but really?? Even that why the Pilot was not able to land with gears down? That is the question.. and then why with so much of speed and and and.. There are not still cleared and FAA needs to pay more attention to the companies Pilot trainings and safety of the people..