On the afternoon of December 31, at the site of the Jeju Air crash at Muan International Airport in Muan County, South Jeolla Province, representatives from the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), Boeing, and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport’s Aviation and Railway Accident Investigation Board stood atop the knoll housing the localizer (a directional guidance facility) identified as a potential cause of the accident, observing the wreckage of the aircraft. (Yonhap)
MUAN, South Korea, Dec. 31 (Korea Bizwire) — Following the tragic crash of Jeju Air Flight 7C2216 on December 29, in which 179 of 181 passengers and crew perished, investigators are examining how two flight attendants survived.
Their location in the aircraft and the use of specialized safety equipment, such as crew jump seats and harnesses, are under scrutiny.
The accident involved a Boeing 737-800 carrying 175 passengers and six crew members. The two survivors were found near the aircraft’s rear emergency exit, injured but alive.
Their proximity to emergency equipment and their use of chest-restraining harnesses—more robust than standard passenger seat belts—may have played a role in their survival.
Rescue workers reported hearing calls for help from the tail section, where they discovered a male attendant standing and a female attendant trapped beneath a fallen cabinet.
Both were conscious, though only the female was able to speak, describing heavy smoke and an explosion.
Firefighters carry out rescue operations at Muan International Airport in Muan, about 290 kilometers southwest of Seoul, on Dec. 29, 2024, after a passenger plane with 181 people aboard crashed. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
Crash Dynamics and Survival Factors
The aircraft reportedly attempted a belly landing after its landing gear failed to deploy, colliding with a runway structure. The impact sheared off the tail section, sparing it from the explosion that consumed much of the fuselage.
According to the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), passengers seated near the tail often have a 10-15% higher chance of survival in certain crash scenarios.
However, safety experts caution against generalizing seat safety, as survival depends on the nature of the crash. In this case, the front section bore the brunt of the impact, while the tail avoided direct collision and explosion damage.
Officers from Korea Crime Scene Investigation carry out an on-site investigation at Muan International Airport in the southwestern county of Muan on Dec. 31, 2024, after a Jeju Air passenger plane with 181 people aboard crashed on Dec. 29. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
Experienced Crew Under Investigation
The flight’s captain, a 45-year-old former Air Force pilot with over 6,800 flight hours, including 6,096 on the B737-800, had extensive emergency training and experience as a flight instructor.
The first officer, aged 35, had logged 1,650 total flight hours, with 1,339 hours on the accident model.
South Korea’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport, in collaboration with the Aviation and Railway Accident Investigation Board and a U.S. investigative team, is conducting an in-depth examination of the crash.
Key areas of focus include the aircraft’s maintenance records, the circumstances leading to the landing gear failure, and the flight crew’s actions during the emergency.
The incident highlights the complex factors influencing survival in aviation disasters and the critical role of crew preparedness and safety equipment in mitigating loss of life.
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
