On December 29, 2024, a Jeju Airlines Boeing 737-800 had a fatal crash at Muan International Airport in South Korea. The incident resulted in the deaths of 179 people with only two survivors, both flight attendants seated at the very rear of the plane.
Before the crash, the approach chart for Runway 01, where the plane was inbound, showed a notice for increased bird activity around the area and urged pilots to keep caution when on short final. This is seen in the NOTAMS (Notice To Air Men) of Muan International, alerting incoming pilots of the potential bird strikes.
At around 9:03 am local time, the aircraft suffered a bird strike on a 3-nautical mile final into the airport, resulting in both engines completely shutting down. Both pilots agreed to initiate a go-around procedure, which was a controversial move as the aircraft would have possibly landed safely had the pilots continued the approach onto the airport. The pilots of the aircraft, following their company procedures on emergency go-arounds, raised their landing gear and flaps, which posed a major problem later in the landing.
Around 9:05, the aircraft was about 2-4 nautical miles from the airport before initiating a teardrop maneuver, which is a maneuver executed to safely turn the aircraft 180 degrees without stressing the airframe. The aircraft performed the maneuver in hopes of aligning with the opposite Runway 19.
By the time that the aircraft turned, the speculation on the internet is that the aircraft was going around 165 knots, which posed unsafe parameters for any sort of landing, especially at the 9,000-foot landing strip that Muan Airport offers. Because of this, the aircraft could possibly rupture its fuselage and risk an explosion that would kill all of its passengers. Even worse, the plane did not deploy its landing gear, which is an essential part of landing a plane safely. All of these actions are actions that led to a series of events that the pilots could not stop at this point.
At about 9:07, the aircraft belly landed on Runway 19 and only deployed one of its two reverse thrusters, which are an essential part of putting a plane to a halt. This, combined with the unbelievable approach speed, were grounds for a horrendous disaster because at this point, the pilots could not do anything for the aircraft and the 181 passengers on board.
As the aircraft skidded down the runway, it showed no signs of halting, as the plane was still going about 100 knots halfway down the runway. About 10-20 seconds after touching down at Muan, Jeju Airlines Flight 2216 overran Runway 19 and crashed into a concrete barrier located at the end of the runway. The plane instantly burst into flames and all but two people died instantly on impact.
After the crash, Korean officials shut down the airport; fire engines instantly deployed to mitigate the fire. After the fire had been extinguished, search-and-rescue operations began, but these soon changed to recovery operations. Rescue crews managed to save the two surviving flight attendants, who are reported to be recovering today in the hospital.
Today, Jeju Air Flight 2216 stands as the deadliest air crash since Lion Air 610 in 2018. It is also the deadliest air crash that has occurred on Korean soil. It is one of the deadliest crashes in the past ten years.
