What we know about the deadly passenger jet crash in South Korea

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A passenger jet burst into flames while landing at an airport in South Korea on Sunday, killing 179 people in one of the deadliest air disasters in that nation's history. There were only two survivors, officials said.

Video showed the plane skidding across the airstrip, overrunning the runway and crashing into a barrier at the airport about 290 kilometers (180 miles) south of Seoul on Sunday. Its front landing gear apparently was not deployed.

Here are some things to know about crash:

The pilot sent out a distress signal shortly before the plane overshot the end of the runway, officials said.

Footage aired by South Korean television channels showed the plane skidding — and apparently without its landing gear deployed. The jet overran the runway and hit a barrier, trigging a fiery explosion. Footage showed thick plumes of smoke billowing from the plane, which was engulfed in flames.

The 15-year-old Boeing 737-800 jet was arriving from Bangkok when the crash happened at 9:03 a.m. Sunday in the town of Muan.

Workers have retrieved the flight data and cockpit voice recorders of the plane’s black box, which will be examined by government experts investigating the cause of the crash and fire, Senior Transport Ministry official Joo Jong-wan said.

The jet operated by Jeju Air had 181 passengers and crew. Of those, a total of 179 people perished in the crash and ensuing fire; only two crew members survived, officials said.

Family members wailed as officials announced the names of some victims at a lounge in the Muan airport.

Kim E-bae, Jeju Air’s president, bowed deeply with other senior company officials as he apologized to bereaved families and said he feels “full responsibility” for the incident. Boeing also extended condolences and said in a statement on X that it is ready to support the company in dealing with the crash.

The government declared Muan a special disaster zone.

It will take months to determine the cause. But there are some possible clues.

Lee Jeong-hyeon, chief of the Muan fire station, said workers were looking into various possibilities about what caused the crash, including whether the aircraft was struck by birds. Transport Ministry officials said the airport control tower issued a bird strike warning to the plane shortly before it intended to land and gave its pilot permission to land in a different area.

The plane was destroyed with the tail assembly being the only recognizable part among the wreckage, the fire chief told a televised briefing.

The incident came as South Korea is embroiled in a political crisis triggered by President Yoon Suk Yeol’s stunning imposition of martial law and ensuing impeachment. Last Friday, South Korean lawmakers impeached acting President Han Duck-soo, leading Deputy Prime Minister Choi Sang-mok to take over.

Choi, who traveled to the crash site, called for officials to employ all available resources to find the missing and identify the victims as soon as possible. The government designated a weeklong national mourning period through Saturday.

Yoon’s office said his chief secretary, Chung Jin-suk, presided over an emergency meeting between senior presidential staff to discuss the crash and reported the details to Choi. Yoon also expressed condolences to the victims.

World leaders expressed their sympathies as South Korea dealt with the tragedy.

Thailand’s prime minister, Paetongtarn Shinawatra, expressed deep condolences to the families and ordered the country's Ministry of Foreign Affairs to provide assistance immediately. Pope Francis offered condolences from St. Peter's Square. Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said he was “deeply saddened by the loss of many precious lives.” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also extended condolences.

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Associated Press journalists Bobby Caina Calvan in New York, Chalida Ekvitthayavechnukul and Jintamas Saksornchai in Bangkok, Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo, Giada Zampano in Rome and David Sharp in Portland, Maine, contributed to this report.

Tourists check an electronic board departure schedule at Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Samut Prakarn Province, Thailand, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Chatkla Samnaingjam)

Rescue team members work at Muan International Airport in Muan, South Korea, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Rescue team members work near the wreckage of a passenger plane outside of Muan International Airport in Muan, South Korea, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

South Korean army soldiers work outside of Muan International Airport in Muan, South Korea, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Rescue team members work outside of Muan International Airport in Muan, South Korea, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Firefighters and rescue team members work at Muan International Airport in Muan, South Korea, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024. (Cho Nam-soo/Yonhap via AP)

A victim rescued from a plane crash is transported to a hospital in Mokpo, South Korea, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024. (Cho Geun-young/Yonhap via AP)

Firefighters and rescue team members work at Muan International Airport in Muan, South Korea, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024. (Cho Nam-soo/Yonhap via AP)

People watch as firefighters and rescue team members work at Muan International Airport in Muan, South Korea, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024. (Cho Nam-soo/Yonhap via AP)

Firefighters and rescue team members work at Muan International Airport in Muan, South Korea, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024. (Lee Young-ju/Newsis via AP)

Firefighters and rescue team members work at Muan International Airport in Muan, South Korea, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024. (Cho Nam-soo/Yonhap via AP)

A rescue team works to extinguish a fire at the Muan International Airport in Muan, South Korea, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024. (Maeng Dae-hwan/Newsis via AP)

Fire engines work to extinguish a fire at the Muan International Airport in Muan, South Korea, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024. (Maeng Dae-hwan/Newsis via AP)

Firefighters and rescue team members work at Muan International Airport in Muan, South Korea, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024. (Cho Nam-soo/Yonhap via AP)

A rescue team prepares to work at Muan International Airport in Muan, South Korea, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024. (Maeng Dae-hwan/Newsis via AP)

Firefighters and rescue team members work near the wreckage of a passenger plane at Muan International Airport in Muan, South Korea, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Family members of the passengers on a plane which burst into flames, weep at the Muan International Airport in Muan, South Korea, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024. (Park Ki-woong/Newsis via AP)

An official from fire station briefs to the family members of the passengers on a plane which burst into flames, at the Muan International Airport in Muan, South Korea, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024. (Park Ki-woong/Newsis via AP)

A tourist walks beside an office of the Jeju Air at Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Samut Prakarn Province, Thailand, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Chatkla Samnaingjam)

Jeju Air CEO Kim E-bae, fourth from left, and other executive members bow in apology ahead of a briefing in Seoul, South Korea, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024 after its passenger plane burst into flames at an airport in the town of Muan. (Im Hun-jung/Yonhap via AP)

Relatives take photos of passenger lists at Muan International Airport in Muan, South Korea, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024, after a passenger plane crashed at the airport. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Relatives of passengers gather at Muan International Airport in Muan, South Korea, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024, after a passenger plane crashed at the airport. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Rescue team carry the body of a passenger at the site of a plane fire at Muan International Airport in Muan, South Korea, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Rescue team members work at the site of a plane fire at Muan International Airport in Muan, South Korea, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Firefighters and rescue team members work at Muan International Airport in Muan, South Korea, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024. (Cho Nam-soo/Yonhap via AP)

Firefighters work to extinguish a fire off the runway of Muan International Airport in Muan, South Korea, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024. (Maeng Dae-hwan/Newsis via AP)

Firefighters and rescue team members work near the wreckage of a passenger plane at Muan International Airport in Muan, South Korea, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A driver wrought carnage on New Orleans' famed French Quarter early on New Year’s Day, ramming a pickup truck into a crowd and killing 10 people before being shot to death by police, authorities said.

More than 30 people were injured in the attack, which the FBI is investigating as an act of terrorism.

The driver was killed in a firefight with police following the attack around 3:15 a.m. Wednesday along Bourbon Street near Canal Street in an area teeming with New Year's revelers, the FBI said.

Investigators were combing the French Quarter for potential explosive devices, a law enforcement official told the Associated Press. The official was not authorized to discuss details of the investigation publicly and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.

FBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge Alethea Duncan said officials were investigating at least one suspected improvised explosive device at the scene.

At a news conference, New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell described the killings as a “terrorist attack” and the city’s police chief said the act was clearly intentional.

New Orleans Police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick said the driver was “hell-bent on creating the carnage and the damage that he did.”

“It was very intentional behavior. This man was trying to run over as many people as he could,” Kirkpatrick said.

After the vehicle stopped, the driver emerged and opened fire on responding officers, police said. Officers returned fire, killing the driver, police said.

Two officers were wounded and are in stable condition, police said. They were in addition to 33 people injured in the vehicle attack.

“When I got to work this morning, it was kind of pandemonium everywhere," Derick Fleming, chief bellhop at the nearby Crowne Plaza hotel, told The Associated Press. "There were a couple of bodies on the ground covered up. Police were looking for bombs in garbage cans.”

The area is known as a prime New Year’s Eve destination.

Tens of thousands of college football fans were in the city for Wednesday night’s Sugar Bowl playoff game between Georgia and Notre Dame at the nearby Superdome. The stadium was on lockdown Wednesday morning, but the game was expected to be played as scheduled.

Both schools expressed condolences to the victims and said they were working with law enforcement to determine if any students, employees or alumni were harmed.

Hours after the attack, three coroner’s office vans were parked on the corner of Bourbon and Canal streets, cordoned off by police tape with crowds of dazed tourists standing around.

Kevin Garcia, 22, told CNN that he saw a truck slamming into people on a sidewalk and heard gunshots.

“A body came flying at me,” he said.

Whit Davis told the network that he heard people yelling and running to the back as he was leaving a nightclub.

“When they finally let us out of the club, police waved us where to walk and were telling us to get out of the area fast. I saw a few dead bodies they couldn’t even cover up and tons of people receiving first aid," said Davis, 22.

The injured were taken to five hospitals, the city’s emergency preparedness department said.

President Joe Biden said the FBI is investigating the “horrific incident” as “an act of terrorism” and that he has directed his team to ensure every resource is available as authorities work to “get to the bottom of what happened as quickly as possible.”

“My heart goes out to the victims and their families who were simply trying to celebrate the holiday,” Biden said in a written statement. “There is no justification for violence of any kind, and we will not tolerate any attack on any of our nation’s communities.”

The attack is the latest example of a vehicle being used as a weapon to carry out mass violence, a trend that has alarmed law enforcement officials and that can be difficult to protect against.

A 50-year-old Saudi doctor plowed into a Christmas market teeming with holiday shoppers in the German city of Magdeburg last month, killing four women and a 9-year-old boy. A man who drove his SUV through a Christmas parade in suburban Milwaukee in 2021 is serving a life sentence after a judge rejected arguments from him and his family that mental illness drove him to do it. Six people were killed.

An Islamic extremist was sentenced last year to 10 life sentences for killing eight people with a truck on a bike path in Manhattan on Halloween in 2017. Also in 2017, a self-proclaimed admirer of Adolf Hitler slammed his car into counterprotesters at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia and is now serving a life sentence.

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Stephen Smith, Kevin McGill, Chevel Johnson and Brett Martel in New Orleans, Jeff Martin in Atlanta and Zeke Miller in Washington contributed to this report.

A coroner's van is parked on the corner of Bourbon St. and Canal St, after a vehicle raced into a crowd of revelers early on New Year's Day, in New Orleans on Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Jack Brook)

A mounted police officer arrives on Canal Street after a vehicle drove into a crowd earlier in New Orleans, Wednesday Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Kevin McGill)

Emergency services attend the scene after a vehicle drove into a crowd on New Orleans' Canal and Bourbon Street, Wednesday Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Emergency services attend the scene on Bourbon Street after a vehicle drove into a crowd on New Orleans' Canal and Bourbon Street, Wednesday Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

A police barricade near the scene after a vehicle drove into a crowd on New Orleans' Canal and Bourbon Street, Wednesday Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

A cyclist passes a police barricade near the scene after a vehicle drove into a crowd on New Orleans' Canal and Bourbon Street, Wednesday Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Security personnel investigate the scene on Bourbon Street after a vehicle drove into a crowd on New Orleans' Canal and Bourbon Street, Wednesday Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

A member of the emergency services walks past a police barricade after a vehicle drove into a crowd on New Orleans' Canal and Bourbon Street, Wednesday Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Emergency services attend the scene on Bourbon Street after a vehicle drove into a crowd on New Orleans' Canal and Bourbon Street, Wednesday Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Emergency services attend the scene on Bourbon Street after a vehicle drove into a crowd on New Orleans' Canal and Bourbon Street, Wednesday Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

A member of the emergency services attends the scene after a vehicle drove into a crowd on New Orleans' Canal and Bourbon Street, Wednesday Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Emergency services attend the scene on Bourbon Street after a vehicle drove into a crowd on New Orleans' Canal and Bourbon Street, Wednesday Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

The scene after a vehicle drove into a crowd on New Orleans' Canal and Bourbon Street, Wednesday Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Emergency services attend the scene after a vehicle drove into a crowd on New Orleans' Canal and Bourbon Street, Wednesday Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Superintendent of Police for the New Orleans Police Department Anne Kirkpatrick makes a statement after a vehicle drove into a crowd on New Orleans' Canal and Bourbon Street, Wednesday Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Emergency services attend the scene on Bourbon Street after a vehicle drove into a crowd on New Orleans' Canal and Bourbon Street, Wednesday Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Emergency services attend the scene on Bourbon Street after a vehicle drove into a crowd on New Orleans' Canal and Bourbon Street, Wednesday Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Emergency services attend the scene on Bourbon Street after a vehicle drove into a crowd on New Orleans' Canal and Bourbon Street, Wednesday Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

New Orleans mayor LaToya Cantrell makes a statement after a vehicle drove into a crowd on New Orleans' Canal and Bourbon Street, Wednesday Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Emergency services attend the scene after a vehicle drove into a crowd on New Orleans' Canal and Bourbon Street, Wednesday Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Emergency services attend the scene after a vehicle drove into a crowd on New Orleans' Canal and Bourbon Street, Wednesday Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)