Pilot reported bird strike and declared mayday before South Korea plane crash
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The pilot of a plane which crashed in South Korea reported a bird strike and declared mayday minutes before it went down, it has been revealed. Just two of the 181 people on board the Jeju Air plane survived the flight from Bangkok, Thailand, to Muan International Airport in South Korea.
At 8.54am local time on Sunday (shortly before midnight in the UK) the plane's pilot was given permission to land. However, just three minutes later, the airport's control tower warned of the possibility of a bird strike. Then, a minute after that the captain sent a mayday signal.
Read more:Expert says concrete wall plane crashed into is 'verging on criminal'What we know about South Korea plane crash. At 9.03am the plane then failed a crash landing attempt, veering off the runway, slamming into a concrete wall and exploding into flames.
South Korea: Expert says concrete wall plane crashed into is 'verging on criminal'. What we know about the South Korea plane crash - and what could have gone wrong. South Korea's worst aviation disaster will mean tough questions for airline bosses. Speaking on Sunday, South Korea's transport ministry said the pilot had confirmed to the control tower that the plane had suffered a bird strike and then issued the mayday call.
Asia correspondent. At the crash site at Muan Airport, you get a really strong sense of just how sudden and catastrophic it all was. There is an eery quiet as the army sifts through the wreckage, picking up tiny bits of debris to place them in small plastic bags.
