The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism of South Korea has confirmed the deaths of 179 passengers and crew members in the accident involving Jeju Air flight 7C2216, which was severely damaged at Muan International Airport.
The flight had 181 passengers and crew aboard, verifying the safety status of all individuals. Two injured cabin crew members have been transported to the hospital. The bodies of the deceased have been placed at the airport and are expected to be handed over to their families. Joint incense altars will be set up at the airport and on 17 city roads.
According to a summary of the incident disclosed by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism and Jeju Air, the aircraft declared an emergency after hitting a flock of birds and attempted a belly landing. The aircraft was manufactured on February 3, 2009, and was introduced by Jeju Air on February 3, 2017. No abnormalities were found during the pre-departure check. There were no records of the aircraft having to turn back due to maintenance issues in the past three years.
The captain, born in 1979, has a total flight time of approximately 6,800 hours, with five years of experience as a captain and 2,500 hours of flight time as captain. The co-pilot, born in 1989, had a total flying time of 1,650 hours.
A total of 1,572 personnel from the fire department, police, and military were mobilized to respond to the incident. Eight air accident investigators and nine aviation safety inspectors were dispatched to the scene, and the retrieved black box is to be transferred to the Gimpo Airport Testing Analysis Center on the 30th to check if analysis is possible.
Compensation for the families involved will be covered by a total of five insurance companies with Samsung Fire as the lead insurer, and AXA XL as the reinsurer, with a total compensation insurance package worth 1.4 trillion South Korean won (approximately 1 billion USD).
Jeju Air is offering special assistance by waiving the cancellation fee on all routes for individuals who made reservations by December 29.
■Incident Summary 8:54 a.m.: Control grants landing permission 8:57 a.m.: Control issues a warning to avoid birds 8:59 a.m.: Pilots declare an emergency due to bird strike 9:00 a.m.: The aircraft attempts to land 9:03 a.m.: The aircraft lands without using landing gear, veers off the end of the runway, collides with the airport’s outer wall, stops, and catches fire 10:03 a.m.: Comprehensive countermeasures headquarters shift into mission mode and proceed 2:00 p.m.: Jeju Air conducts an official briefing 2:42 p.m.: Out of 181 passengers and crew, 120 dead, 2 injured, 59 unaccounted for 5:30 p.m.: Comprehensive support team of the on-site countermeasures headquarters arrives at Muan Airport 6:26 p.m.: Out of 181 passengers and crew, 176 dead, 2 injured, 3 unaccounted for 10:00 p.m.: Out of 181 passengers and crew, 179 dead, 2 injured
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