SEOUL, Dec. 29 (Xinhua) -- All the 179 people aboard a passenger jet that crashed while landing at an airport in southwest South Korea were confirmed dead except only two rescued, multiple media outlets said Sunday, citing the fire authorities.
It was reported at about 9:03 a.m. local time that the airplane with 175 passengers, including 173 South Koreans and two Thais, together with six flight attendants on board crashed while attempting to land at the Muan International Airport, some 290 km southwest of the capital Seoul.
The Jeju Air flight 7C2216 from Bangkok, Thailand landed without wheels, skidded off the runway, and hit the outer wall of the runway, with its fuselage broken in half and catching fire.
Only two crew members were rescued at the rear of the ill-fated aircraft, most parts of which were severely damaged, and the remaining 179 people were confirmed dead.
The fire authorities believed that a bird strike that led to landing gear failure may have caused the accident.
After making the first landing attempt, the aircraft went around into the air due to the estimated malfunctioning of landing gear and made the second landing attempt with a belly landing that resulted in the disaster.
TV footage showed a big plume of black smoke billowing out of the Boeing 737-800 engulfed by flames. Another footage showed an engine on the plane's right wing emitting smoke with flames before attempting to land.
An official with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said at a televised press briefing that the retrieval of both flight data and voice recorders was completed to look into the air disaster.
The transport ministry added that it may take at least months to years to figure out the exact cause of the accident. ■
