A passenger plane that burst into flames after skidding off a runway at an airport in South Korea, killing at least 127 people, had been warned of a “bird strike” moments before the crash on Sunday, officials said.
The control tower at Muan International Airport had issued a bird strike warning while the Jeju Air plane was trying to land shortly before 9 a.m local time, the Yonhap News Agency reported, citing officials from the Transport Ministry.
The pilot sent out a distress signal a minute after receiving the warning and was given permission to land to in the “opposite direction of the runway from the control tower,” officials said.
The plane went past the runway and crashed into an outer wall after the plane’s landing gear apparently failed to deploy, officials said.
The Air and Railway Accident Investigation Committee has retrieved the flight data recorder from the plane’s black box and are continuing to search for the cockpit voice recording devices, the agency reported, but it could take years for the exact cause of the accident to be determined.
The incident is one of the country’s worst aviation disasters at a time that South Korea is embroiled in a huge political crisis followed by President Yoon Suk Yeol’s imposition of martial law and subsequent impeachment. South Korean lawmakers impeached acting President Han Duck-soo on Friday and suspended his duties, leading Deputy Prime Minister Choi Sang-mok to take over.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated.
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