At approximately 9:03 AM on December 29, 2024, a tragic disaster occurred in South Korea. Jeju Air Flight 7C2216 (B737-800) departing from Bangkok, Thailand, deviated from the runway of Muan International Airport for unknown reasons, crashed, and exploded. All 179 of the 181 passengers on board died, except for the two crew members who were rescued at the scene.

How on earth did such a tragedy happen? According to an announcement from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, at 8:57 AM, the control tower issued a ‘bird strike’ warning to the aircraft. Two minutes later, the pilot made a ‘mayday’ rescue request, and at approximately 9:03 AM, the aircraft collided with the azimuth facility (localizer), a facility that assists in landing aircraft, causing an explosion.


“I heard a loud bang outside. I thought it was strange, so I just went outside. Normally, there‘s no such sound.”

“When I was just looking, I heard this squeak squeak sound and saw flames.”

- Witness Lee Geun-young

There are various speculations about the cause of the accident. Some say that the problem occurred due to a ‘bird strike’, where a bird collided with the aircraft during landing, or that the scale of the accident was aggravated by the bulge of the reinforced concrete azimuth facility (localizer). The production crew of SBS ‘Curious Story Y’ decided to directly confirm the basis of these claims with a number of experts.

Some have also raised suspicions that it was due to the aging of the passenger plane and problems with the airline’s maintenance. In fact, the day after the accident, a Jeju Air passenger plane of the same model returned due to a landing gear problem. However, Jeju Air insisted to the production crew that there was no problem with the maintenance process. It is difficult to predict until the exact results of the accident investigation come out. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced that they will conduct a thorough investigation to determine the cause of the accident.


“It‘s terrible. It’s terrible. I don‘t know whose fault it was, but even if the accident is revealed, this kind of accident shouldn’t have happened.”

“I can‘t believe this situation.”

- Bereaved family

Meanwhile, the bereaved families who lost their precious family members in the sudden accident are unable to leave the scene and are waiting for the recovery and response procedures. The families’ feelings are indescribable as the exact cause of the accident is not being quickly determined. The Republic of Korea is in deep sorrow as it seems that it will take even longer to determine the truth about the cause of this airplane explosion that took the lives of so many people.

This week‘s SBS ‘Curious Story Y’ will look into why the accident happened that day and why the scale of the damage could not have been reduced. It will air on Friday, the 3rd at 9 p.m.
Reporter Lee Seul-bi, Donga.com misty82@donga.com