US investigators are assisting South Korea with its investigation into the plane crash that killed 179 people on a flight departing from Thailand on Sunday.
The U.S. investigation team includes the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Boeing Co., which manufactured the plane that burst into flames as it landed at South Korea's Muan International Airport on Sunday.
“The NTSB led a U.S. investigation team (NTSB, Boeing, and FAA) to assist the South Korean Air and Rail Accident Investigation Board (ARAIB) in its investigation of the December 29 Jeju Air accident at Muan International Airport. Republic of Korea,” the NTSB newsroom account posted on social platform X.
A Boeing 737-800 operated by Jeju Air of South Korea departed from Bangkok, Thailand and arrived in Muan, South Korea at around 9 a.m. local time.
As of Sunday evening local time, 179 of the 181 people on board the plane were confirmed dead.
South Korea's Yonhap news agency said both survivors were crew members who were rescued from the back of the plane during the initial search. No other people were recovered alive from the wreckage.
According to Yonhap News, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism held a press conference on Sunday afternoon and reported that the control tower had warned about birds in the area just before the plane landed. The pilot then issued a “mayday” signal, and minutes later the plane burst into flames.
“It appears to have been caused by a bird strike. One of the engines exploded with smoke coming out,” one of the surviving crew members said in an eyewitness report, Yonhap News reported.
Jeju Air Flight 7C2216 had 181 people on board, including 175 passengers, four flight attendants, and two pilots.
