Jeju Air Jet Crashes in South Korea, Over 170 Dead or Missing

A Jeju Air Co. plane landing in South Korea crashed on an airport runway and caught fire, resulting in more than 170 people dead or missing. 

Flight 2216 was carrying 175 passengers and 6 crew members from Bangkok when the accident happened at Muan International Airport in County, according to officials. While two people were rescued, 85 were killed and the remainder were unaccounted for, they said. The majority of passengers were South Korean nationals, with two Thai nationals also on board.

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The incident occurred at 9:07 am on Sunday when a Jeju Air flight made a rough landing after an unidentified glitch. However, the pilot failed to control the aircraft at the time of landing when its landing gear reportedly broke apart.

As a result, the flight veered off the runway during landing and struck a fence at Musan International Airport in Muan County, about 288 kilometres southwest of Seoul.

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The accident stands to become the worst passenger airline disaster in South Korea in decades, and takes place against the backdrop of a deepening political crisis in Seoul after the president provoked public outrage by briefly imposing martial law.

The fire agency said assumptions around the cause of accident include worsening weather and bird strikes. More than 700 people were sent to help search for survivors at the crash site, it said.

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Founded in 2005, Jeju Air operates 42 aircraft, according to its website. The company pledged to provide all necessary support to the victims and their families.

The death toll from the Jeju Air crash would be the highest in South Korea since at least 2002. An Air China plane crashed near Busan that year, killing 129 people, according to the Aviation Safety Network.