VIDEO: Death toll rises to 122, most remaining passengers presumed dead [Updated]

The plane veered off a runway at Muan International Airport and caught fire after crashing, a fire official said. The Boeing 737-800 was traveling from Bangkok, Thailand to Muan Airport.

CNN UPDATE:

The death toll from a plane crash at Muan International Airport in South Korea has risen to 122, with only two survivors according to the South Jeolla Fire Service.

Most of the remaining passengers and crew are presumed dead, according to the fire service.

Among those killed, 54 are male and 57 are female, while the gender of 11 remains undetermined, according to the authorities.

The number of survivors remains at two – both crew members, one male and one female – according to the on-site fire service team.

The Jeju Air jetliner was carrying 181 passengers and crew when it crashed Sunday morning.

JUST IN: Commercial flight carrying 175 passengers and 6 crew members crashes while landing in South Korea.

The Boeing 737-800 was traveling from Bangkok, Thailand to Muan Airport.

According to initial reports, there are currently 28 reported fatalities and at least two… pic.twitter.com/D9nRGncbCr

— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) December 29, 2024

Footage of the crash broadcast by local media showed the aircraft sliding on its belly before bursting into flames. The fire department said the accident was caused by a landing gear malfunction.

• Two people have been pulled from the wreckage, both crew members. However rescuers have warned that they do not expect to find many more survivors from the inferno.

• The Jeju Air jetliner was carrying 175 passengers and six crew when it crash-landed at the airport in Muan county. The plane, listed as a Boeing 737-800 on FlightAware, had traveled from Bangkok, Thailand.

Crash footage aired by South Korean networks shows aircraft sliding on belly before bursting into flames

From CNN’s Jerome Taylor

People watch a news broadcast on the plane crash, in Seoul, South Korea on December 29. Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images

Footage of Sunday’s crash broadcast by multiple South Korean news outlets showed the Jeju Air aircraft sliding on its belly at high speed, careening off the edge of the runway and hitting an earthen embankment before bursting into flames.

The video footage, broadcast by networks including YTN, JTBC and MBC, showed neither the back nor front landing gear were visible as smoke poured from the back of the sliding aircraft.

The plane then smashes into a raised earthen embankment at the end of the runway and erupts in a huge fireball.

Landing gear appears not to be set down based on video footage, CNN analyst says

The aircraft’s landing gear appears not to have been set down when it crash-landed on the runway, based on video footage of Sunday’s disaster, according to a CNN transport analyst.

Mary Schiavo, a former inspector general of the US Department of Transportation, said one of the engines may have gone down or the plane’s indicators could have been damaged. Another possibility, she said, is that the pilot was attempting a “go-around,” meaning the pilot wanted to abort the landing and circle back in the air to check if the gears were working.

“Maybe there were problems with the lights and they didn’t know for sure whether the gear was down or not. It’s a very … proper procedure to first do a go-around, come into the airport, go over the runway and have the (control) tower actually look to confirm whether your gear is down or up,” Schiavo told CNN’s Paula Newton.