seoul
Eyewitnesses to Sunday’s deadly plane crash in South Korea’s southwestern county of Muen said they saw flames from the plane’s engine and heard explosions. Officials have started investigating the accident, raising the possibility that the landing gear may have malfunctioned due to bird strike. The Jeju Air flight, carrying 181 people, veered off the runway during landing and collided with a fence wall at Muan International Airport. The accident occurred at about 9:07 a.m. in Muan County, South Jeolla Province, about 288 kilometers southwest of Seoul. Officials said that 127 people have died in the accident, while two people have been saved.
Videos broadcast by local TV stations showed the plane attempting to land without the landing gear deployed. Authorities believe a landing gear malfunction, possibly caused by a bird strike, may have caused the crash. Yoo Jae-yong, 41, who lives in a rental house near the airport, said he saw a spark on the right wing of the plane before the crash, Yonhap news agency reported.
He said that I was telling my family that there was a problem with the plane, then I heard a loud explosion. At the same time, another eyewitness said that he was walking 4.5 kilometers away from the airport at the time of the accident. Meanwhile, saw the plane landing and thought it was about to land, then saw a flashing light. Then there was a loud bang, followed by smoke in the air and then several explosions were heard.
Kim Yong-cheol, 70, said the plane failed to land on the first attempt and returned for a second attempt before the crash. Kim recalled that she heard the sound of metal scraping twice about five minutes before the crash.
Kim said she looked up into the sky and saw the plane climbing up after failing to land, before she heard a loud explosion and saw black smoke rising into the sky.
A 50-year-old witness who was fishing nearby said he saw a flock of birds hitting the plane, causing the right engine to catch fire. When the plane was landing on the runway, it collided with a flock of birds coming from the opposite direction. I heard two or three bangs as if birds had gone into the engine, before I saw flames coming out of the right engine. Police and fire officials are investigating on the spot to find out the exact cause.
