This photo shows the site of an airplane crash at an airport in Muan, southwest South Korea, on Dec. 29, 2024. All the 181 people aboard a South Korean airplane that crashed on Sunday at the country's southwestern airport were believed to have been killed except two rescued, multiple media outlets said citing the fire authorities. (NEWSIS via Xinhua)

The aircraft collided with airport fences and other structures before catching fire at around 9 am on Sunday. The incident involved Jeju Air flight 7C 2216, which was en route from Bangkok, Thailand, to Muan, said the Yonhap report. 

The Chinese Consulate General in Gwangju, South Korea, confirmed to reporters on Sunday that no Chinese citizens were among the casualties in the air crash, according to Xinhua News Agency.

Jeju Air issued an apology saying that "We deeply apologize to all those affected by the incident at Muan Airport. We will make every effort to resolve the situation. We sincerely regret the distress caused."

Dai Bing, Chinese Ambassador to South Korea, wrote on social media platform X saying that "I am deeply saddened by the tragic plane crash at Muan Airport today. My heartfelt condolences go out to the victims and their families, and I extend on behalf of my colleagues our sympathies to those injured. Chinese Embassy stands in solidarity with the ROK during this difficult time."

Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra expressed her condolences to the families of the deceased and injured in a post on X. She said she had ordered the country's Ministry of Foreign Affairs to look into the presence of Thai passengers aboard the plane and to provide immediate assistance.

Keerati Kijmanawat, president of Airports of Thailand Pcl (AOT), expressed his deepest condolences regarding this incident. He confirmed that there were no reports of abnormalities with the aircraft or the runway when Flight 7C 2216 departed from Runway 02R at Suvarnabhumi Airport, the Nation Thailand newspaper reported.

The aircraft involved in the crash was a Boeing 737-800, operated by Jeju Air. The Boeing Company said in a post on X that "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."

South Korean Acting President Choi Sang-mok said that the government is allocating all available resources through the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters, and has declared Muan as a special disaster zone. Choi issued the instruction after arriving at Muan International Airport, located 288 kilometers southwest of Seoul, the Korea Times reported. "We will thoroughly investigate the cause of the accident and devise preventive measures to avoid the occurrence of similar accidents in the future," Choi said.

Videos aired by local TV stations show the plane attempting to land without its landing gear deployed. Officials believe the landing gear failure, possibly due to a bird strike, may have caused the accident, according to Yonhap.

Wang Yanan, chief editor of Beijing-based Aerospace Knowledge magazine, told the Global Times on Sunday the incident of a bird strike during landing could cause significant resistance to the landing gear's hydraulic system, potentially leading to its failure or deformation, preventing proper deployment. 

Bird strikes, when occurring at speeds exceeding 300 kilometer per hour, can generate energy comparable to a small projectile, Wang said. Video footage shows the plane landed without landing gear, with its belly and engines directly contacting the ground at high speed. Key issues to the investigation include whether the bird strike caused the high-speed landing and improper touchdown position or if these were due to pre-existing control issues. Additionally, the plane's speed brakes and flaps did not fully deploy, factors that also require further investigation, Wang explained. 

Song Zhongping, a military expert told the Global Times on Sunday that the impact of birds on civil aviation safety cannot be ignored. Airports around the world use bird control measures, including electronic devices, birds of prey, and even sounds to drive flocks away. Flocks of birds pose the greatest danger during takeoff and landing, when the aircraft is in a more vulnerable state. 

"A collision with birds, whether on the fuselage or the engine, can lead to serious consequences, even potentially catastrophic accidents," said Song. 

This photo shows the site of an airplane crash at an airport in Muan, southwest South Korea, on Dec. 29, 2024. All the 181 people aboard a South Korean airplane that crashed on Sunday at the country's southwestern airport were believed to have been killed except two rescued, multiple media outlets said citing the fire authorities. (NEWSIS via Xinhua)

Recent accidents

The latest tragedy in South Korea was one of the several recent accidents involving passenger planes around the world when the year of 2024 approaches to the end.

A KLM Royal Dutch Airlines Boeing 737 operating flight KL1204 with destination Amsterdam veered off the runway into the grass at low speed on Saturday night. All 176 passengers and 6 crew members are unharmed and are being taken care of. The circumstances of the incident are being investigated, according to a statement released by the Royal Dutch Airline on local time December 28. 

According to reports from CBC, a plane caught fire while taxiing on the runway after a landing at Halifax Airport in Canada. As a result, Halifax Airport was temporarily closed on the evening of Saturday local time.

And before those, a passenger plane operated by Azerbaijan Airlines from Baku to Grozny crashed near the Kazakh city of Aktau on Wednesday, Kazakhstan's Ministry of Emergency Situations (MES) said, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

TASS citing the latest reports, reported that 38 people, including seven Russians, were killed, while 29 others survived.

Russian President Vladimir Putin offered his apologies to his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev and conveyed his condolences to the families of the plane crash victims, the Kremlin press office reported on Saturday.

"Vladimir Putin offered his apologies that the tragic incident had occurred in Russia's airspace and once again conveyed his deep and sincere condolences to the families of the plane crash victims and wished those injured the quickest recovery," the press office said in a statement.