TRANSCRIPT
It was a quiet Sunday morning in the South Korean city of Muan when 63-year-old seafood restaurant owner Im Young-Hak heard a terrifying sound.
“I think it was about 9am. I heard a bang. At first, I thought it was an oil tanker accident as we can see a lot of oil tankers nearby. Then I felt different, so I went outside and saw a big dark smoke. Then I could hear a big explosion sound, not the one from the crash itself. Then I heard more explosions at least seven times.”
The sound came from the nearby international airport where Jeju Air flight 7C2216 had been arriving from Thailand when an unknown incident occurred, requiring the pilots to attempt an emergency landing.
The plane skidded down the runway on its belly before crashing into a concrete fence and bursting into flames.
While two crew members in the tail of the plane managed to survive, 179 passengers and crew died in what the government has called the country's deadliest aviation incident in 27 years.
One of those passengers was Jeon Mi-Sook.
Her father, Jeon Je-Young, says he's trying to make sense of the tragic event.
"When I saw the accident video, it seemed like it was out of control when the plane entered the airport. The pilots probably had no choice but to do it. My daughter, who is only in her mid-40s, ended up like this. This is unbelievable."
Mi-Sook was on the way home after travelling with her friends to Bangkok for the Christmas holidays.
Her premature death has devastated the family, leaving her husband and a teenage daughter behind.
"She was almost home, she didn't feel the need to make a call. She thought she was coming home. By the time she took out her phone, the plane probably was crashed."
South Korea's transportation ministry says the crash is the worst by any South Korean airline since a 1997 Korean Air crash in Guam that killed more than 200 people.
Jeju Air has apologised for the incident and Boeing has also offered its condolences to those affected.
The South Korean government has declared seven days of mourning to honour the 179 people killed in the crash, with acting president Choi Sang-Mok offering thoughts to the affected families.
“I offer my deepest condolences to those who tragically lost their lives, I also feel deeply sorry and would want to comfort the families who are left behind. As the acting 'head of the government' responsible for the safety and lives of our residents, I feel an indescribable sorrow and profound regret.”
And now, investigations are underway into the cause of the tragic crash.
Geoffrey Thomas, a 50-year veteran of the aviation industry, says the circumstances are very strange.
"This tragic accident is extraordinary. The undercarriage clearly has not deployed. Why they did not abort landing approach, why they did not contact air traffic control to tell them of a problem. If they had a problem with deploying of undercarriage, the protocol would be that fire services would cover runway with foam, they would be on standby to attend the aircraft as it came in for a belly landing - none of that happened."
The flight data and cockpit voice recorders of the plane’s black box have been retrieved but officials warn the damage from the crash means it could take up to a month to decode the flight data.
South Korea's transportation ministry says an investigation will examine whether a collision with birds could be to blame for a landing gear malfunction as a bird strike warning had been reportedly issued by the control tower just minutes prior.
Marco Chan is a former pilot and a senior lecturer in aviation operations at Buckinghamshire New University in England.
He commends the pilots for their attempt at an emergency landing in the circumstances.
"So in their minds, a lot going on. And of course, they're trying to achieve a smoother touchdown, as we saw from the video. And I must say, the pilots did a great job of the initial touchdown. It was smooth. There's no particularly loud impact that contributed to immediate fire at all. The touchdown was fine, but then, of course, it wasn't enough to slow down the airplane and then it ultimately impacted the wall."
The United States is deploying an investigative team to assist, made up of members of their National Transportation Safety Board as well as the Federal Aviation Administration and aviation company Boeing.
South Korea's transport ministry says the full investigation into the crash could take up to three years to complete.
