Did bird strike contribute to South Korea plane crash? What we know

More than 170 people have died since a plane crashes on landing in South Korea on Sunday morning.

The Jeju Air plane skidded off the runway before colliding with a wall at Muan International Airport in the country's southwest.

The plane, which was returning from Bangkok, Thailand, was carrying 181 people – 179 of whom died, while two crew members were rescued from the wreckage.

Authorities are investigating the cause of the crash, which fire officials said may have been caused by a bird strike and bad weather.

The flight, 7C2216, was a Boeing 737-800 operated by Jeju Air, Korea's most popular budget airline.

The aircraft arrived in Mouan around 09:00 local time (00:00 GMT).

A South Korean transport official said the plane was trying to land but was forced to stop after air traffic control issued a bird strike warning – a warning about the risk of a bird strike.

About two minutes later, the pilot called Mayday and air traffic control cleared the plane to land from the opposite direction, the official said.

A passenger on the flight texted a relative saying a bird was “stuck in the wing” and that the plane could not land, local media reported.

One video appears to show the plane touching down without using its wheels or other landing gear. It slid down the track and crashed into a wall before bursting into flames.

A witness told South Korea's Yonhap news agency that they heard a “loud explosion” followed by a “series of explosions”.

Videos from the scene showed the plane burning with smoke billowing into the sky. Fire crews have since extinguished the fire.

Lee Chong-hyun, chief of the Muan Fire Department, said in a televised briefing that the tail section of the plane could be recognized, but “one cannot make out the shape of the rest of the plane.”

He said a bird strike and bad weather may have caused the crash, but that the exact cause was still under investigation. The flight and the recorders from the plane were found.

The head of Jeju Air's management said the crash was not due to “any maintenance issues,” Yonhap news agency reported.

South Korea's transport department said the flight's chief pilot had been in the role since 2019. and had more than 6,800 hours of flight experience.

A bird strike is a collision between an aircraft in flight and a bird. They are very common – more than 1,400 bird strikes were reported in the UK in 2022, only around 100 of which involved aircraft, according to data from the Civil Aviation Administration.

The most famous bird collision occurred in 2009, when an An Airbus plane crashed into the Hudson River in New York after a collision with a flock of geese. All 155 passengers and crew survived.

Professor Doug Drury, who teaches aviation at CQUniversity Australia, writes in an article on The conversation this summer Boeing planes have turbofan engines that can be seriously damaged in a bird strike.

He said pilots are trained to be especially alert early in the morning or at sunset when the birds are most active.

The plane was carrying 175 passengers and six crew members. Two of the passengers were Thai nationals and the rest were believed to be South Koreans, authorities said. Many were believed to be returning from a Christmas holiday in Thailand.

The official death toll stands at 179 – making it the deadliest plane crash in South Korea's history.

All passengers and four crew members were killed.

Authorities have so far identified 88 bodies.

Five of the dead were children under the age of 10. The youngest passenger is a three-year-old boy and the oldest is 78, authorities said, citing the passenger's manifest.

South Korea's National Fire Agency said two crew members – a man and a woman – survived the crash. They were found in the tail of the plane after the crash and taken to hospital, the release said.

More than 1,500 emergency workers have been dispatched as part of the recovery effort, including 490 firefighters and 455 police officers. They are searching the area around the runway for parts of the plane and those who were on board.

Acting President Choi Sang-mok declared a special disaster zone in Muan, making central government funding available to the local government and victims.

All flights to and from Muang International Airport have been cancelled.

The families of the crash victims are traveling to the airport hoping to find out what happened to their loved ones. Video footage from Reuters showed officers reading the names of the victims aloud.

Airport authorities and the Red Cross have set up more than a dozen tents at the airport for bereaved families to mourn in private.

The sounds of crying echoed through the terminal. Some are frustrated at how long it is taking to identify the bodies.

Jeju Air apologized to the families. Its CEO told a news conference that the airline had no history of accidents. Sunday's crash is believed to be the only fatal incident since the airline's inception in 2005.

Aircraft manufacturer Boeing expressed condolences to those affected.

Choi, South Korea's acting president, said: “I express my deepest condolences to the many victims of the incident. I will do everything possible for the injured to recover quickly.''

The government has declared a period of national mourning for the country for the next seven days, during which flags of state offices will be flown at half-mast.