A passenger aboard the doomed Jeju Air plane that erupted into a fireball when it smashed into a wall as it landed in South Korea made a heartbreaking five-word message to a relative before the disaster.
At least 177 people died in the disaster at Muan International Airport, in southern South Korea, on Sunday morning. Jeju Air flight 7C2216 arrived from Bangkok with an estimated 181 people in board. Two survivors have been saved from the wreckage, both reported to be airline crew.
Local media reported that a passenger on board the plane texted a loved one with a heartbreaking message just before the crash. The recipient of the text, who was referred to by South Korean media as Mr A, told reporters he had been waiting with his family at the airport at the time of the crash.
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"I have not been able to contact them since my family contacted me saying there was a problem with the plane," he told reporters. Then, heartbreakingly, he revealed the relative asked in their last message: "Should I make a will?"
The passenger also reportedly said that a bird had got "caught on the wing and we couldn't land." The News1 agency reported another passenger texted a relative with a final message saying: "Should I say my last words?"
The National Fire Agency of South Korea said 71 of the bodies that were pulled from the aircraft were identified as male with 71 being identified as female. It is still waiting to confirm the genders of at least nine other passengers.
Only two flight attendants are understood to have been successfully rescued from the aircraft following the crash. They have been taken to hospitals and are said to have suffered medium to severe injuries.
According to the Straits Times, a local fire official told families at a briefing: "Passengers were ejected from the aircraft after it collided with the wall, leaving little chance of survival. The plane is almost completely destroyed, and identifying the deceased is proving difficult. The process is taking time as we locate and recover the remains."
All flights to and from Muan Airport have been cancelled. The South Korean Land, Infrastructure and Transport Ministry has launched an investigation into the cause of the crash.
The National Fire Agency said it is believed the aircraft experienced an issue with its landing gear due to a bird strike. The term refers to a collision between a bird and a plane that is in flight, on take off or during a landing.
The disaster is the deadliest plane crash on involving a South Korean airline since 1997 where a Korean Air plane crashed in Guam killing 200 people. The worst crash on South Korean soil was an Air China crash in April, 2002, where 129 people died.