By Hongji Kim, Ju-min Park and Hyunsu Yim

MUAN COUNTY, South Korea (Reuters) -At the least 120 folks have been killed when an airliner landed with out wheels, veering off the runway and erupting in a fireball because it slammed right into a wall at South Korea’s Muan Worldwide Airport on Sunday, the nationwide fireplace company mentioned.

Jeju Air flight 7C2216, arriving from the Thai capital Bangkok with 181 folks on board, was making an attempt to land shortly after 9 a.m. (0000 GMT) on the airport within the south of the nation, South Korea’s transport ministry mentioned.

It’s the deadliest air accident involving a South Korean airline in practically three a long time, in response to ministry information.

The dual-engine Boeing (NYSE:) 737-800 could be seen in video from native media skidding down the runway with no obvious touchdown gear earlier than slamming right into a wall in an explosion of flame and particles. Different photographs confirmed smoke and fireplace engulfing elements of the airplane.

Two crew members, a person and a lady, have been rescued from the tail part of the burning airplane, Muan fireplace chief Lee Jung-hyun instructed a briefing. The hearth was extinguished as of 1 p.m., Lee mentioned.

“Only the tail part retains a little bit of shape, and the rest of (the plane) looks almost impossible to recognise,” he mentioned.

Authorities have switched from rescue to restoration operations and due to the power of the impression, are looking out close by areas for our bodies presumably thrown from the airplane, Lee added.

The 2 crew have been being handled at hospitals with medium to extreme accidents, mentioned the pinnacle of the native public well being centre.

‘MY LAST WORDS’

Hours after the crash, mortuary automobiles have been lined up to take our bodies away, and authorities mentioned a short lived morgue had been established.

The crash website smelled of aviation gas and blood, in response to Reuters witnesses, and staff in protecting fits and masks combed the world whereas troopers searched by way of bushes.

Yonhap information company cited a fireplace official as saying most of 175 passengers and 6 crew have been presumed lifeless.

Authorities had labored to rescue folks within the tail part, an airport official instructed Reuters shortly after the crash.

The crash is the worst by any South Korean airline since a 1997 Korean Air crash in Guam that killed greater than 200 folks, in response to transportation ministry information.

Investigators are wanting into fowl strikes and climate situations as potential elements, Lee mentioned. Yonhap cited airport authorities as saying a fowl strike could have brought about the touchdown gear to malfunction.

A passenger texted a relative to say a fowl was caught within the wing, the News1 company reported. The individual’s closing message was, “Should I say my last words?”

The passengers included two Thai nationals and the remainder are believed to be South Koreans, in response to the transportation ministry.

The Boeing 737-800 jet, operated by Jeju Air, was manufactured in 2009, the transport ministry mentioned.

JEJU AIR SAYS BEREAVED ARE TOP PRIORITY

Jeju Air CEO Kim E-bae apologised for the accident, bowing deeply throughout a televised briefing.

He mentioned the reason for the crash was nonetheless unknown, that the plane had no report of accidents and there have been no early indicators of malfunction. The airline will cooperate with investigators and make supporting the bereaved its prime precedence, Kim mentioned.

No irregular situations have been reported when the plane left Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport, mentioned Kerati Kijmanawat, president of Airports of Thailand.

Based in 2005, Jeju Air is a low-cost airline that operates worldwide routes to Japan, Thailand, and the Philippines, along with quite a few home flights.

Boeing mentioned in a emailed assertion, “We are in contact with Jeju Air regarding flight 2216 and stand ready to support them. We extend our deepest condolences to the families who lost loved ones, and our thoughts remain with the passengers and crew.”

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.

All home and worldwide flights at Muan airport had been cancelled, Yonhap reported.

South Korean performing President Choi Sang-mok, named interim chief of the nation on Friday in an ongoing political disaster, arrived on the scene of the accident and mentioned the federal government was placing all its sources into coping with the crash.

Two Thai girls have been on the airplane, aged 22 and 45, Thai authorities spokesperson Jirayu Houngsub mentioned, including that particulars have been nonetheless being verified.

Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra despatched condolences to the households of the lifeless and injured in a put up on X, saying she had instructed the international ministry to offer help.

The ministry mentioned in an announcement it was in contact with the South Korean authorities.