All 176 people aboard an Air Busan passenger plane were safely evacuated after a fire broke out on the aircraft before takeoff late Tuesday at Gimhae International Airport.
The South Korean Transport Ministry reported that the Airbus A321, en route to an undisclosed destination, experienced a fire in its rear section while preparing for departure.
According to the ministry, the evacuation, utilizing emergency slides, involved 169 passengers, six crew members, and one engineer.
The National Fire Agency stated that three individuals sustained minor injuries during the evacuation process. Firefighters extinguished the blaze completely at 11:31 p.m., approximately an hour after their arrival.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
This incident follows a fatal crash at Muan International Airport last month, where a Boeing 737-800, returning from Bangkok, crashed after its landing gear failed to deploy. This accident resulted in the loss of 180 lives, making it one of South Korea’s deadliest aviation disasters.
A preliminary report on the December 29th crash indicated the presence of bird strike traces in the plane’s engines, though the ultimate cause is yet to be determined.