A Jeju Air Boeing 737-800 jet crashed at Muan International Airport on December 29, killing 179 people in what has become the deadliest aviation disaster on South Korean soil.
Flight 7C2216 was on final approach to Muan from Seoul when it first contacted air traffic control at 8:54 a.m. and was cleared to land on runway 01.
Just minutes later, controllers warned of bird activity near the airport. At 8:58 a.m., the flight crew reported spotting birds beneath the aircraft. Seconds later, the plane struck the flock and aborted its landing in a go-around maneuver.
During the climb, both engines vibrated heavily. The right engine surged, producing large flames and thick black smoke. By 8:58:45 a.m., pilots shut down the left engine and attempted emergency procedures. Black box data from the cockpit voice and flight data recorders stopped recording moments later, just six seconds before the pilot declared a Mayday.
At 9:00 a.m., the crew requested an emergency landing on runway 19, the opposite end of the same runway. The plane made belly contact with the tarmac at 9:02 a.m. without deploying its landing gear, touching down roughly halfway along the 2.8-kilometer runway.
Tragically, just 23 seconds after landing, the aircraft overshot the runway and crashed into an embankment. Airport rescue units responded within moments, but the scale of the destruction was catastrophic. Only two survivors have been pulled from the wreckage so far.
The Transport Ministry was notified at 9:10 a.m., with the airport shut down shortly after. Investigators are probing the crash, focusing on bird strike protocol, engine failure, and emergency response procedures.
