On December 29, 2024, Jeju Air Flight 2216, a Boeing 737-800 en route from Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport to Muan International Airport in South Korea, suffered a devastating accident during landing. The aircraft’s main landing gear malfunctioned and failed to deploy properly, forcing the pilots to attempt an emergency belly landing. The plane skidded off the runway, collided with an embankment, and burst into flames. The tragedy claimed the lives of 179 of the 181 people aboard, with only two crew members surviving the crash, both sustaining serious injuries.
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| Accident | |
| Date | 29 December 2024 |
| Summary | Runway overrun following belly landing after landing gear failure, under investigation |
| Site | Muan International Airport, South Jeolla, South Korea |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft Type | Boeing 737-8AS |
| Operator | Jeju Air |
| Flight Origin | Suvarnabhumi Airport, Samut Prakan, Thailand |
| Destination | Muan International Airport, South Jeolla, South Korea |
| Occupants | 181 |
| Passengers | 175 |
| Crew | 6 |
| Fatalities | 179 |
| Survivors | 2 |
This tragedy marked the deadliest air disaster involving a South Korean airline since the 1997 crash of Korean Air Flight 801 in Guam. It also became the worst aviation accident to ever occur on South Korean soil, surpassing the 2002 Air China Flight 129 crash. The event was Jeju Air’s first fatal accident in its 19-year operational history and South Korea’s most devastating national tragedy since the sinking of the MV Sewol ferry in 2014.
Globally, the crash of Jeju Air Flight 2216 stands as the most catastrophic aviation disaster of 2024, the deadliest involving a Boeing 737 Next Generation model, and the worst airline tragedy of the 2020s. It was also the deadliest airliner crash since Lion Air Flight 610 in 2018.
Background
The aircraft involved was a Boeing 737-8AS, registered HL8088, powered by two CFM International CFM56-7B engines. It first took flight on August 19, 2009, and was initially delivered to Ryanair under the registration EI-EFR. After operating for the Irish low-cost carrier until 2017, it was transferred to Jeju Air through SMBC Aviation Capital.
Just weeks before the tragedy, Jeju Air had resumed international flights at Muan International Airport following a suspension during the COVID-19 pandemic. Flight 2216 was part of a newly launched route between Muan and Bangkok, operating four times a week since December 8, 2024.
Passengers and Crew
The flight carried 175 passengers and six crew members. Among the passengers, 173 were South Korean nationals and two were from Thailand. The ages of those on board ranged from a toddler born in 2021 to an elderly passenger born in 1946. The group included 82 men, 93 women, and five children under the age of 10.
The flight crew consisted of a captain, who joined Jeju Air in 2019 and had logged over 6,820 flight hours, and a first officer with approximately 1,650 hours of experience. Four flight attendants were also on board. The only survivors—two flight attendants seated in the rear jump seats—were pulled from the tail section of the wreckage with severe injuries, including fractures and head trauma. Both were hospitalized in Mokpo and Seoul but initially had no memory of the moments after the crash.
Most passengers were returning from a five-day Christmas tour to Bangkok, organized by a South Korean travel agency that had chartered the aircraft. Among the victims were 13 local and provincial government officials, eight civil servants from Hwasun County, and five education officers from the Jeonnam Provincial Office of Education.
Tragically, 179 people were killed in the crash. Local authorities reported that many passengers were ejected from the fuselage upon impact, leaving almost no chance of survival. Several bodies were discovered up to 200 meters (660 feet) away from the wreckage, with many victims suffering severe burns or dismemberment.
Accident Sequence
Jeju Air Flight 2216 departed Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport from Gate F6 at 2:11 a.m. ICT (UTC+7), taking off from Runway 02R at 2:28 a.m. Thai aviation officials confirmed that the aircraft showed no signs of technical issues prior to departure.
As the aircraft approached Muan International Airport, air traffic control issued a warning at 8:57 a.m. KST (UTC+9) regarding possible bird activity near the runway. One minute later, at 8:58 a.m., the pilots declared a mayday after experiencing a landing gear malfunction.
An initial attempt to land at 9:00 a.m. was aborted when the main landing gear failed to deploy. During a second emergency landing attempt between 9:03 and 9:07 a.m., the aircraft made contact with the center of the runway in a belly-landing configuration. The plane skidded down the tarmac, overran the runway, and slammed into an embankment supporting the ILS (Instrument Landing System) array. It then exploded into flames.
Eyewitnesses reported seeing sparks and flames near the right wing moments before the crash. Several also described a loud explosion and observed a flock of birds being drawn into the right engine, which may have caused a fire and power loss.
Emergency Response and Recovery
Emergency calls began flooding in at 9:03 a.m., triggering a Level 3 emergency response—the highest classification in South Korea. The National Fire Agency mobilized 1,562 personnel, including 490 firefighters, 455 police officers, and 340 military members. The fire was extinguished within 43 minutes. Both flight data recorders were recovered the same day: the flight data recorder sustained minor damage, while the cockpit voice recorder remained intact.
By 1:36 p.m., response efforts shifted from firefighting to recovery operations. A temporary morgue was established near the site, and a waiting area for victims’ families was set up at Muan Airport. Later that evening, family members were moved to Mokpo National University dormitories for accommodation and DNA collection to help identify victims.
On December 30, South Jeolla Province Governor Kim Yung-rok confirmed that 120 bodies had been identified through fingerprints, with DNA analysis underway for the remaining victims.
Muan International Airport’s runway was closed until January 1, 2025. Although it was under renovation at the time, reducing its length from 2,800 meters to 2,500 meters (9,200 to 8,200 feet), investigators stated that the shortened runway played no direct role in the disaster.
Reactions
Domestic
In the wake of the catastrophe, suspended President Yoon Suk Yeol, who had recently faced impeachment following a failed attempt to impose martial law earlier in the month, shared a message of condolence on social media, expressing deep sorrow over the loss of lives.
Jeju Air released a public statement apologizing for the tragedy and temporarily disabled ticket sales links on its official website out of respect for the victims. The airline’s CEO, Kim E-bae, and Chang Young-shin, chairperson of parent company Aekyung Group, both issued heartfelt apologies and pledged full cooperation with authorities during the investigation. To assist grieving families, the airline deployed 260 staff members to Muan to provide logistical and emotional support.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety faced public outrage after it was revealed that an emergency text alert had been issued nearly two hours and forty-five minutes after the crash occurred. Officials from Muan County later apologized for the delay. Similarly, Yeonggwang County received criticism for sending messages that expressed condolences instead of providing actionable information, violating the government’s emergency communication standards.
International
Condolences poured in from around the world. Global leaders, including Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, Chinese President Xi Jinping, and U.S. President Joe Biden, offered their sympathies to the victims’ families and the people of South Korea.
Diplomatic missions stationed in Seoul also issued statements of mourning, and Boeing, the aircraft’s manufacturer, expressed its “profound sorrow” and pledged to assist with the investigation. The Saudi Arabian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Holy See joined international voices in extending condolences and prayers for those affected.
In response to the tragedy, the United States announced that experts from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and Boeing would be dispatched to South Korea to assist the Aviation and Railway Accident Investigation Board (ARAIB) in determining the cause of the crash, given the aircraft’s American origin.
