Unlock the Editor’s Digest free of charge
Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favorite tales on this weekly publication.
A minimum of 151 folks had been killed on Sunday after a South Korean passenger jet crashed and burst into flame on touchdown, in response to native authorities, in one of many nation’s worst aviation disasters.
The Jeju Air flight was getting back from Bangkok with 181 folks on board when it did not deploy its touchdown gear, skidding down the runway earlier than it struck a wall and was engulfed in hearth at Muan Worldwide Airport within the south of the nation.
Two crew members had been rescued from the plane’s tail, in response to the nationwide hearth company, however many of the passengers are feared useless, officers instructed South Korea’s Yonhap information company. Greater than 30 vehicles and several other helicopters had been deployed to the catastrophe.
Of the 175 passengers, 173 had been South Korean, whereas the remaining two had been Thai nationals, in response to the transportation ministry. There have been an additional six crew members on board.
South Korea’s appearing president Choi Sang-mok — who assumed office on Friday after his predecessor was impeached by parliament — vowed to “dig into the reason for the accident and take steps to forestall any recurrence of comparable accidents”.
“This can be a grave state of affairs. We’ll do our utmost to deal with the harm,” he mentioned from the scene of the crash.
Native tv information footage confirmed thick smoke billowing from the wreckage of the plane, a twin-engined Boeing 737-800 jet.
All flights had been cancelled on the airport in South Jeolla province, in response to native media. Jeju Air activated emergency protocols and arrange a crew to assist mourners.
“We provide our deepest condolences for the victims and bereaved households. We really feel nice accountability and can do our greatest to seek out out the precise reason behind the accident,” the corporate’s president Kim E-bae mentioned in a televised assertion.
An airline spokesperson mentioned authorities had been working to find out the reason for the crash. In a televised briefing, officers recommended a collision with birds and dangerous climate as potential causes. The transportation ministry additionally mentioned it might study upkeep information for the plane, which was 15 years outdated.
Boeing mentioned it was involved with the airline relating to the incident.
South Korea has suffered a number of previous deadly plane disasters, although the nation’s security document has improved lately. In keeping with authorities knowledge, South Korean flag carriers had 67 accidents over the previous 10 years, which resulted in 59 deaths.
In 1983, a Korean Air flight was shot down by the previous Soviet Union, killing all 269 folks on board. In 1997, one other Korean Air flight crashed in Guam, which killed 228 of the 254 folks on board. In 2013, an Asiana Airways flight crashed because it ready to land in San Francisco, killing three folks and injuring 187.
The catastrophe on Sunday was the second deadly airplane accident in current days. On Wednesday, an Azerbaijan Airways passenger flight crash-landed in Kazakhstan after being diverted over the Caspian Sea from Grozny, within the southern Russian republic of Chechnya.
US and Ukrainian officers have blamed Russian anti-aircraft hearth for the accident, during which 38 of the 67 folks on board had been killed. Russian authorities mentioned heavy fog and a flock of birds precipitated the diversion, however have additionally mentioned that it occurred whereas Ukrainian fight drones had been attacking close by cities.
Russian President Vladimir Putin apologised to Azerbaijan on Saturday for the “tragic incident”, however didn’t touch upon the allegations of Russian interference.
