World
‘Bird stuck in wing,’ passenger on crashed plane says in texts to family
“A bird is stuck in the wing, and we can’t land. Just now. Should I leave my last words?” the passenger said in a text conversation with a relative.The Korea Herald
One of the passengers on the ill-fated plane that crashed Sunday morning sent a text message about the aircraft “not being able to land because of a bird on a wing,” in one of the last known texts sent to a family member.
A family member of one of the passengers aboard Jeju Air 7C 2216, which left at least 62 dead in a crash landing, received the text messages moments before the incident.
“A bird is stuck in the wing, and we can’t land. Just now. Should I leave my last words?” the passenger said in a 9 a.m. text conversation with a relative, who told local News1 that the passenger has remained unreachable since. It is unclear what happened with the passenger in question.
The Jeju Air flight, carrying 175 passengers and six crew, overshot the runway at Muan International Airport at around 9 a.m. Sunday and collided with the perimeter fence. A subsequent explosion caused a fire, which fire authorities were able to extinguish at around 9:50 a.m.
Emergency services are currently providing medical assistance at the scene, with the government operating a pangovernmental Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters in response to the disaster.