• A Jeju Air flight crashed at Muan International Airport, resulting in at least 85 deaths, marking South Korea's deadliest air accident in nearly 30 years.
• The Boeing 737-800 jet, arriving from Bangkok, attempted to land without wheels, veered off the runway, and caught fire.
• Two crew members were rescued from the burning plane, while authorities have switched from rescue to recovery operations.
• Investigators are considering bird strikes and weather conditions as possible factors in the crash.

In a tragic incident that has left South Korea and the world in shock, a Jeju Air flight 7C2216, carrying 181 people, crashed at Muan International Airport on Sunday, resulting in the death of at least 85 people. The airliner, arriving from the Thai capital Bangkok, attempted to land without wheels, veered off the runway, and erupted into a fireball as it slammed into a wall. This incident marks the deadliest air accident involving a South Korean airline in nearly three decades.

The ill-fated flight was attempting to land shortly after 9 a.m. (0000 GMT) at the airport in the south of the country, according to South Korea's transport ministry. The ministry also confirmed the casualties, making it the deadliest air accident involving a South Korean airline in nearly three decades. The plane, a Boeing 737-800 jet operated by Jeju Air, was manufactured in 2009.

Two crew members, a man and a woman, were rescued from the tail section of the burning plane, according to Muan fire chief Lee Jung-hyun. The fire was extinguished by 1 p.m., Lee said. Only the tail part retains a little bit of shape, and the rest of (the plane) looks almost impossible to recognise, he added.

Investigation and Rescue Operations

The authorities have switched from rescue to recovery operations and are searching nearby areas for bodies possibly thrown from the plane due to the force of the impact. The two crew members who were rescued are being treated at hospitals with medium to severe injuries, according to the head of the local public health centre.

The Yonhap news agency cited a fire official as saying most of the 175 passengers and six crew members were presumed dead. At least 58 bodies have been recovered, but that number is not final, another fire official told Reuters.

The crash is the worst by any South Korean airline since a 1997 Korean Air crash in Guam that killed more than 200 people, according to transportation ministry data. Investigators are looking into bird strikes and weather conditions as possible factors. Yonhap cited airport authorities as saying a bird strike may have caused the landing gear to malfunction.

International Response and Assistance

A passenger texted a relative to say a bird was stuck in the wing, the News1 agency reported. The person's final message was, Should I say my last words? The passengers included two Thai nationals and the rest are believed to be South Koreans, according to the transportation ministry.

The Royal Thai Embassy in Seoul confirmed that two Thai nationals were aboard the Jeju Air flight that crashed. The embassy is in close communication with South Korean authorities to monitor the situation. Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra sent condolences to the families of the dead and injured, saying she had instructed the foreign ministry to provide assistance.

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration did not immediately respond to a request for comment. All domestic and international flights at Muan airport had been cancelled, Yonhap reported. South Korean acting President Choi Sang-mok, named interim leader of the country on Friday in an ongoing political crisis, arrived at the scene of the accident and said the government was putting all its resources into dealing with the crash.