A Boeing 737-800 Crashes in South Korea

A Boeing 737-800 plane crashed in South Korea on December 29, 2024 as it was landing at Muan International Airport – in Muan County, South Jeolla Province – veering off the runway and smashing into a concrete embankment before bursting into a fireball. 

 

Jeju Air flight 7C2216, which was returning from Bangkok, Thailand, had 181 people on board, with 179 reported dead and two crew members who were seated at the rear of the plane survived.

 

The crash is South Korea’s deadliest plane disaster since a Korean Air Lines Boeing 747 plane crashed in Guam in 1997, killing 228 people. 

 

Jeju Air CEO Kim Yi-bae (right) on Tuesday announced that the airline will reduce their air traffic this winter by 10-15% to carry out more maintenance work on the planes. But he emphasized that this was not an admission that the company were running too many planes. 

 

He maintained that the company's pilots are trained to regulation standards. Moreover, they have increased their number of maintenance workers from 12 per aeroplane in 2019 to the current 12.9. 

 

Intriguingly, there was the admission that over the past 5 years, Jeju Air had paid the most fines and faced the most administrative action of any Korean airline. However, Kim insisted that Jeju Air were consistently improving their safety record.

 

According to Chosun Biz yesterday, Kim even highlighted: "While Jeju Air had shortcomings in the past, we have not received significant administrative sanctions from last year to this year" and noting, "Compared to other airlines, we have clearly improved, and we have focused our efforts on safety".

 

Investigations are ongoing and we will know soon enough who's to blame – whether it's the Boeing 737-800 or pilots’ error or a bird strike?!

 

And did you know that Jeju Air flight 7C101, from Seoul to Jeju Island, experienced a mechanical issue with its landing gear on Monday morning local time? The aircraft, another Boeing 737-800, was able to resolve the matter but returned to Gimpo Airport as a precautionary measure to switch aircraft.

 

Given two similar incidents with two Jeju Air Boeing 737-800 aircraft in as many days, South Korean authorities aren't taking any chances and have decided to inspect every single 737-800 in use by the country's airlines. That will amount to the review of 101 737-800 aircraft, 39 of which are operated by Jeju Air.