Episode Details

President Xi Jinping sent a message of condolence on Sunday to South Korean acting president Choi Sang-mok over the crash of a Jeju Air passenger plane, which killed 179 people.

Xi said he was shocked to learn about the tragedy that caused a significant loss of human lives. On behalf of the Chinese government and the Chinese people, he expressed deep condolences and extended sincere sympathies to the bereaved families, and wished the injured a speedy recovery.

The twin-engine Boeing 737-800, arriving from Bangkok, Thailand, with 175 passengers and six crew members on board, belly-landed and veered off the runway, bursting into flames as it plowed its way through a concrete wall at Muan International Airport, about 288 kilometers southwest of Seoul, shortly after 9 am.

The crash, which took place in Muan county, South Jeolla province, is the deadliest aviation accident ever on South Korean soil, and the third-most fatal by death toll involving a South Korean airline, Yonhap News Agency reported.

Domestic and international flight operations at Muan airport will stay suspended until Wednesday, the local news agency said.

In an emergency meeting on Sunday evening, Choi declared national mourning period until midnight on Saturday. The acting president, who visited the crash site, said the government was putting all its resources into dealing with the accident.

Joo Jong-wan, a senior South Korean Transport Ministry official, said that workers have retrieved the flight data and cockpit voice recorders of the plane's black box, which will be examined by government experts investigating the cause of the crash and fire.

Footage of the crash aired by South Korean television channels showed the plane skidding across the runway at high speed with its landing gear still closed, overrunning the buffer zone, and then colliding head-on with the wall, triggering an explosion.

Lee Jeong-hyeon, chief of the Muan fire station, told a televised briefing that the plane was completely destroyed, with only the tail assembly remaining recognizable among the wreckage.

Investigators are looking into various possible factors behind the crash