South Korea in mourning after 179 killed in plane crash including boy, 3,

South Korea has been left in mourning after 179 people were killed on Sunday in the worst civil aviation disaster in the country’s history.

Only two crew members survived after the Boeing 737-800 Jeju Air plane skidded off the runway at Muan International Airport as it attempted to land, before slamming into wall and bursting into flames.

Health officials said the two survivors, cabin staff who have not been identified, are conscious and not in life-threatening condition. A three-year-old boy is the youngest victim of the accident.

The flight was transporting passengers, many of them holidaymakers, from Bangkok, Thailand.

Footage of the crash shown on South Korean television channels showed the plane skidding across the airstrip at high speed with its landing gear still closed.

Officials investigating the crash are examining if a bird strike caused a malfunction with the jet’s landing gear.

A South Korea transport ministry official said after the control tower warned the pilots that a bird may collide with the aircraft, they declared mayday, before attempting to land on the runway from the opposite direction.

One passenger sent a relative a message shortly before the crash saying that a bird was stuck in the wing, according to the South Korea’s News1 agency.

Other footage has also emerged which shows an explosion in the plane’s right engines as it descends for landing.

The crash was not due to “any maintenance issues”, however, the head of Jeju Air’s management team said.

Kim E-bae, Jeju Air’s president apologised to bereaved families in a press conference after the crash and said he feels “full responsibility” for the incident.

He said the company hadn’t identified any mechanical problems with the aircraft following regular checkups and that he would wait for the results of government investigations into the cause of the incident.

One of the two black boxes recovered from the plane sustained damage in the crash, which could delay analysis of the data by a month, the Aviation and Railway Accident Investigation Board (ARAIB), which is investigating the crash, said.

The National Transportation Safety Board is leading a team of U.S. investigators to help South Korea’s aviation authority in its investigation of the Jeju Air crash in Muan, the agency said on Sunday.

It said the flight data recorder (FDR) had been damaged by the time it was collected and decoding it could take about a month but the plane’s cockpit voice recorder had remained intact in the crash.

America’s National Transportation Safety Board has announced it is leading a team of investigators to help South Korea investigate the crash.

Boeing, which made the aircraft, and the Federal Aviation Administration, a civil aviation regulator in the US, are participating in the probe, it added.

The cousin of a Thai passenger killed on the aircraft said she is “saddened” and “shocked” by the fatal crash.

Pornphichaya Chalermsin, from Nong Wua So District, Udon Thani, told the BBC that her cousin Jongluk Doungmanee, 49, was living in South Korea with her two children, aged 7 and 15, and Korean husband.

Chalermsin said after media reported one of the victims was from Udon Thani said she was “shocked”, and “had goosebumps” when she read media reports about the crash.

Jongluk had been in Thailand visiting family with her husband and he returned to South Korea before she departed, she added.

Jeon Je-young the father of a woman killed in the crash, said he was shocked about what happened.

Mr Je-young said he cannot believe his daughter Mi-sook, who he described as “warm hearted” died in a plane crash.

He said: “When I saw the accident video, the plane seemed out of control. The pilots probably had no choice but to do it. My daughter, ended up like this. This is unbelievable.”

He said Mi-sook was in her 40s and his last brief moment with her was when she brought some food and next year’s calendar to his house on 21 December.

Boeing said in a statement on X it was in contact with Jeju Air and is ready to support the company in dealing with the crash.

“We extend our deepest condolences to the families who lost loved ones, and our thoughts remain with the passengers and crew,” Boeing said.

South Korea’s impeached president Yoon Suk Yeol has expressed his condolences to the victims of the fatal plane crash at Muan International Airport.

In a post shared on Facebook, Yoon said he believes the government will do its best to support those affected.

“I am deeply saddened and heartbroken,” a translation of Yoon’s post published by Yonhap news agency said. “I’d like to send my deepest condolences to the victims and their loved ones. I am convinced the government will do its best to handle the situation and provide support for victims and their families.”

Yoon was impeached on 14 December after his failed attempt to impose martial law on 3 December.

King Charles and Sir Keir Starmer have sent well wishes to the families of the crash victims.

The King said he and the Queen will be holding the families and loved ones of those who died in their prayers and they are ”profoundly saddened” to ”learn of the horrific air accident at Muan, which resulted in such grievous loss of life”.

He added: “As the people of the Republic of Korea mourn this disaster, the families and loved ones of all the victims are in our prayers.”

The Prime Minister said: “I send my deepest condolences to the victims and families of those who lost their lives in the tragic plane crash in Muan.

He added that he pays tribute to the work of emergency responders sent to the scene and his thoughts are with the people of the “Republic of Korea and Thailand at this terrible time”.

Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden said the country is ”prepared to provide any necessary assistance to South Korea” following the crash.

About 1,570 firefighters, police officers, soldiers and other rushed to the scene after the crash, according to South Korea’s fire agency and transport ministry.