Jeju Air Boeing 737-800 Crashes At South Korean Airport

A Boeing 737-800 operated by South Korean carrier Jeju Air crashed at Muan International Airport on Dec. 29, colliding with a concrete wall after attempting to land with its gear still retracted.

Flight 7C 2216 was carrying 175 passengers and six crew from Bangkok to Muan, situated in the southwest of South Korea. Officials say 179 people died—comprising all passengers and four crewmembers. Two crew were rescued, says the South Korean Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

The flight data and cockpit voice recorders have been recovered, the ministry adds, noting it had a team of eight air accident investigators and nine other aviation safety officials onsite.

The accident is by far the worst globally in 2024 and the second fatal one since Dec. 25, when an Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 crashed at Aktau, Kazakhstan, after the jet was struck by Russian anti-aircraft fire.

The Jeju Air aircraft was initially on approach to Muan’s Runway 01. Around 6 min. before the accident, air traffic control issued a warning about birds in the area, according to the ministry. At 8:58 a.m. local time—1 min. later—the crew declared an emergency while on final approach and opted to go around, the ministry says. The aircraft also stopped transmitting ADS-B data at that time, flight tracking website Flightradar24 says.

Data released by Flightradar24 shows the aircraft mostly on a standard rate of descent of around 700-800 ft./min. in the final 2 min. of its approach to Runway 01 before the aircraft briefly climbed at up to 2,000 ft./min.

A video of the aircraft approaching the airport on short final to Runway 01 shows the 737 with flaps and landing gear up. The right engine emitted smoke and flames at one point.

The aircraft was then cleared to land on Runway 19, the same runway in the opposite direction, where it attempted to land at 9:03 a.m. local time.

A video of the crash shows the aircraft skidding down the runway with neither landing gear nor flaps deployed. It overran the end of the runway, which is 2,800 m (9,200 ft.) long. The aircraft then struck a concrete perimeter wall several hundred feet beyond the runway and burst into flames.

Aviation Week Network Fleet Discovery data shows the aircraft (Registration No. HL8088, Serial No. 37541) was delivered in 2009 initially to Ryanair and leased to Jeju Air by SMBC Aviation Capital in 2017. The 15-year-old narrowbody had clocked 24,230 hr. and 13,254 cycles.

Jeju Air says in a statement: “We deeply apologize to all those affected by the incident. We will make every effort to resolve the situation. We sincerely regret the distress caused.”

The LCC, named after the South Korean island of Jeju, started flying in 2006. According to Fleet Discovery, the carrier currently operates a fleet of 41 737s, among them 39 737-800s and two 737-8s. It has a further 38 737-8s on firm order.