Featured Image Credit: Chris Jung/NurPhoto via Getty Images/south-korea.news
Topics: Korea, News, World News
Gerrard Kaonga
Topics: Korea, News, World News
Following the South Korea’s worst domestic civili aviation disaster people have been speculating about how two people managed to survive the harrowing crash.
Authorities have been investigating a Jeju Air plane crash in South Korea over the weekend that saw 176 out of 178 passengers lose their life.
Video footage shows the Boeing 737-800 jet crash-landed at Muan International Airport, about 180 miles south of Seoul, at around 9:03am local time on December 29 and is particularly haunting.
The plane failed to land safely and skidded across the runway, without its landing gear open, before it collided with a wall and burst into flames.
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Only two passengers managed to survive and people have been curious how they were lucky enough to escape the tragedy with their lives.
A seating plan shows that the only survivors of the crash were flight attendants who were sat at the very back of the plane.
Cabin crew are often seats at the very front or very back of the plane and on the Boeing 737-800s, fold-down seats for the crew are placed adjacent to the rear doors, where the two survivors were extracted from.
Flight attendants are also given significant training and access to safety equipment however it is not clear whether they used any during the crash.
Other people have noted that their seats are facing the opposite direction, and they are separated from the other passengers by the onboard toilets.
An image of a the seating plan has been doing the rounds on social media and has led to people speculating these factors may have increased their chance of survival.
One Reddit user wrote: “The main reason why they had a better chance of survival was that they were wearing a 4 point harness, facing backwards, behind the lavatory and received the least amount of impact force.
Another said: “Yes. It’s likely because the front of the plane absorbed the impact and pax were thrown into seats in front of them.
“The rear FA’s wouldn’t hit anything at impact. So that likely helped them."
A third wrote: “Those 2 seats are jump seats for cabin crew, not passengers. Either way, it's miraculous that anyone survived that. What a tragic crash, my condolences to those that lost loved ones, I hope they find peace and answers.”
And another noted: “The two crew members were very lucky to survive the impact. However this outcome heavily relied on the fact that emergency crews risked their lives to go in there and save them without hesitation or indication of life. They are heroes.”