The Jeju Air jet pilot told air traffic control the aircraft had suffered a bird strike and declared mayday shortly before the plane crashed, a transport ministry official said in a media briefing.
All 175 passengers and four of the six crew were killed when the Jeju Air Boeing belly-landed and skidded off the end of the runway at Muan International Airport, erupting in a fireball as it slammed into a wall. Two crew members were pulled out alive. 'The control tower advised the pilot with the phrase, “Caution bird activity.”', Kang Jung-Hyun, a senior official at South Korea’s ministry of land, infrastructure and transport told reporters. He continued, 'At 8:59 am, the pilot reported an emergency declaration and go-around due to a bird strike. The pilot declared "mayday, mayday, mayday"'
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