A Jeju Air plane was flying from Bangkok, Thailand to Muan, South Korea when it crashed while landing on Sunday. There were 181 people on board, and sadly, 179 of them lost their lives. Only two people, both flight attendants, were rescued from the wreckage.
The plane had just made its first landing attempt at around 9:00 AM when the control tower warned the pilot about birds near the runway. Shortly after, the pilot sent out a distress call, known as a mayday, as the plane tried to land again without its wheels down. Dramatic videos showed the plane skidding on the runway, trailing smoke, before it crashed into a wall and caught fire.
Investigators are looking into what caused the crash, and they think it might have been due to the birds or bad weather. One official mentioned that the runway is long enough for this type of aircraft, so that probably wasn’t the issue.
Bird strikes are when birds hit airplanes during flight. They can be dangerous, especially if birds get sucked into the engines. One famous bird strike happened in 2009 when a U.S. Airways plane landed safely in the Hudson River after birds hit its engines, which was called the “Miracle on the Hudson.”
Before this incident, Jeju Air had an excellent safety record. This was their first deadly accident. The last significant air disaster in South Korea was in 2002 when 129 people died after a plane hit a hill. South Korea’s aviation safety record is strong overall, although there have been some tragedies in the past
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