A fire broke out in a passenger aircraft at the international airport in the southeastern South Korean city of Busan. The incident occurred late Tuesday night, local time, but no casualties were immediately reported.
According to a report by South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency, a fire engulfed a passenger aircraft at Busan’s Gimhae International Airport. However, security personnel successfully evacuated all 176 passengers and cabin crew from the aircraft safely.
The South Korean fire department stated that the fire occurred in an Air Busan aircraft that was preparing to depart for Hong Kong. The incident took place around 10:30 PM on Tuesday night, with the fire breaking out at the rear of the aircraft.
Airport authorities confirmed that all 176 people onboard, including passengers and crew, were safely evacuated. British news agency Reuters reported that the Air Busan aircraft had 169 passengers and 7 cabin crew at the time of the fire.
In a related incident on December 29, a Jeju Air flight (7C2216) carrying 181 passengers had departed from Bangkok, Thailand, to South Korea. The aircraft, with 175 passengers and 6 crew members, crashed while landing at Muan International Airport in South Korea. Tragically, 179 passengers lost their lives in the crash.
An investigation committee formed to probe the Jeju Air crash stated in a report published on Monday that the remains of ducks were found in both engines of the aircraft. The six-page report revealed traces of DNA from Baikal teals, a species of migratory duck that flies to South Korea in flocks during the winter.
The report also highlighted that investigators have yet to reach a preliminary conclusion about why the aircraft landed without deploying its landing gear or why the flight data recorder stopped recording during the last four minutes of the flight.