A plane veered off the runway at Muan International Airport in South Korea, striking a concrete barrier and resulting in 179 fatalities, according to the Associated Press, citing South Korea’s National Fire Agency (NFA).
Yonhap News Agency attributed the catastrophic accident, one of the worst air disasters in the nation’s history, to a landing gear malfunction.
The Boeing 737-800, operated by Jeju Air, a South Korean budget airline, was carrying 175 passengers and six crew members when the incident occurred Sunday morning local time. The aircraft was traveling from Thailand.
The fire agency reported that among the victims, 84 were women, 82 were men, and the gender of 11 others was undetermined. Two crew members survived and were found conscious by emergency responders. Three individuals remained unaccounted for approximately nine hours after the crash.
The plane touched down at 9:07 a.m. local time before the accident occurred.
The Associated Press reported that the aircraft’s front landing gear failed to deploy, causing it to veer off the runway and impact the concrete fence.
Local media images depicted smoke emanating from the wreckage.
According to the AP, a senior Transport Ministry official confirmed that the flight data recorder from the plane’s black box had been recovered. Recovery efforts for the cockpit voice recorder were ongoing.