South Korea plane crash: Jeju Air disaster kills 179; investigators recover black boxes

At least 179 people have been killed after a passenger plane skidded and crashed while trying to land at Muan International Airport in South Korea in one of the country’s worst aviation disasters. The accident occurred on Sunday at 9:03am local time (00:03 GMT) as the Jeju Air flight, carrying 175 passengers and six crew from the Thai capital Bangkok, landed at Muan International Airport about 290km (180 miles) southwest of the capital Seoul. The National Fire Agency confirmed that 179 people – 85 women, 84 men and 10 others whose genders weren’t immediately identifiable – have been killed, and two people have been rescued – both crew members. The agency said the fire that engulfed the plane had been extinguished. both black boxes that contain flight data and voice recordings from the cockpit have been recovered at the scene and will be examined by government experts, the transport ministry said. Emergency crews are facing the difficult task of identifying victims, many of whom died in the ferocious fire after the crash. It’s known, that most will be from this southwest corner of the Korean Peninsula and would have been returning home from Christmas vacation. Al Jazeera’s Rob McBride reports from Muan, South Korea. Subscribe to our channel http://bit.ly/AJSubscribe Follow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/AJEnglish Find us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera Check our website: http://www.aljazeera.com/ Download AJE Mobile App: https://aje.io/AJEMobile #SouthKorea #MuanAirport #JejuAir #7C2216 #JJA2216 #Boeing737 #HL8088 #PlaneCrash #AviationAccident #AirplaneCrash #Boeing #FlightSafety #AviationNews #AviationDisaster #Muan #Bangkok #SouthKoreanNews #MuanPlaneCrash #AlJazeeraEnglish