South Korean flight attendant survived as plane's tail fell off, may be paralyzed

SEOUL – At least 179 people have died after an airbus crashed while preparing to land at an airport in South Korea. The plane's tail section was found near the site of Tuesday's accident; its wreckage has since been consumed by a raging fireball.

The crash occurred just after the 181-person plane, which had originated in Thailand, attempted to land at Muju International Airport near South Korea's southern coast.

According to a preliminary report, two people, both flight attendants, are believed to have survived the incident. One of the survivors, a 33-year-old surnamed Lee, is reportedly in shock – his body and face "riddled with injuries" and burns.

In footage obtained by CNN, a visibly emotional Lee is seen walking away from the site, supported by firefighters, with his body covered in bandages. In interviews, he recalled only a sensation of turbulence during what was expected to be a routine landing in South Korea.

"Our plane was flying low," said Lee. "But, suddenly, it made a sharp ascent. After a while, our plane crashed."

Another surviving flight attendant said she recalled one of its engines exploding in a cloud of smoke just moments after it began its descent. "Then we crashed," she recalled. The cause of the crash has yet to be determined.

South Korea's president, Yoon Suk-yeol, was officially suspended from serving his role earlier this month following his decision to reinstate nine military officers who had previously been dishonorably discharged or demoted amid allegations of corruption and abuse. South Korean media has reported that Yoon is under criminal investigation after the reinstatement.

Yoon, who is currently in self-imposed isolation, released a statement Tuesday afternoon that did not address the investigation and its ongoing aftermath.

"It's an unprecedented tragedy and I feel extremely sad," he said. "As the president, I will do everything in my power to help the relatives of the deceased and the victims."

The government, Yoon added, would do everything in its power to uncover the cause of the crash and prevent future ones.

Muju Airport is located in the southwestern city of Muan in South Jeolla, a rural province roughly 180 miles south of South Korea's capital, Seoul. The airport's 7,900-foot main runway can only accommodate smaller regional aircraft – and the Boeing 737 that crashed Tuesday exceeded that capacity.

The plane that crashed Tuesday belonged to Jeju Air, a South Korean low-budget carrier, and was carrying 173 Korean nationals and two Thai nationals. It had departed Bangkok early Tuesday.

According to South Korea's Yonhap news agency, the Boeing 737 was about to land at Muju airport around 8:30 a.m. Wednesday local time. But during its initial landing attempt, the plane was forced to execute an emergency ascent, according to the Aviation Safety Office, a civilian branch of the country's military. The plane then plunged back to the ground moments later.

The plane burst into a fireball when it first touched the ground, a regional police official said. Some local reports said several people were "sucked out" of the airplane when it struck a nearby retaining wall.

The crash happened in clear blue skies. The weather was ideal in Muju at the time, according to South Korea's meteorological service.

But Lee's recollection of a loud engine explosion prompted a local aviation expert to raise concerns about the possible impact of a foreign body striking the plane's engine. Lee said the plane started making loud, abrupt noises moments before it began ascending sharply and spiraling out of control.

A 2017 study published in the International Journal of Aeronautical and Space Sciences found that a goose weighing approximately 8.8 pounds can cause considerable damage to commercial airplanes, especially near a plane's engines during landing or while taking off. The study also concluded that midsize or larger birds are "more likely to cause damage to planes."

In a written statement sent to Foreign Policy, Jeju Air said that "the cause of the accident has not been revealed so we cannot comment further at the time."

South Korean television viewers were interrupted during airtime Tuesday by news about the crash. South Korea is in the midst of its official holiday season, and television stations typically air festive, feel-good holiday specials in the lead-up to New Year's Eve. Several stations, however, canceled their holiday programming and instead broadcasted footage of the ongoing rescue mission.

President Yoon has faced heavy backlash from South Korean conservatives for his decision in late December to re-hire nine military officers who previously faced punishment after being found guilty of corruption and abuse. The military reinstatement sparked a national scandal, forcing the South Korean National Assembly to impeach Yoon earlier this month and allowing the country's economic vice minister and finance director, Choi Seong-mu, to briefly assume presidential duties.

Yoon, 62, has been largely secluded in the presidential Blue House throughout the ongoing impeachment trial. He has been unable to leave his official residence without violating the country's martial law order, a directive Yoon invoked following the impeachment vote to restore his suspended presidential powers. A military judge is set to render a verdict in Yoon's case January 13.

South Korea's main opposition party had called a rally on the Blue House's grounds Tuesday to demand that Yoon be permanently removed from office.

But following the crash, local media reported the rally had been postponed – and some observers expect South Korea's ongoing political showdown to be postponed for several days. The two largest competing parties in the South Korean National Assembly – the ruling People Power Party and the opposition Democratic Party, had both released statements pledging to provide support to the victims' families ahead of the New Year's Eve holiday.