Korea’s Aviation Incidents: 228 Killed in Crash During Guam Landing, 3 Dead on San Francisco Runway
This is the first major civilian airline accident in 11 years since 2013 and marks the first large-scale disaster involving a low-cost carrier (LCC).
The first aviation incident involving a Korean civilian airline occurred on Feb 16th, 1958, with the Changrangho Hijacking Incident. The Changrangho, which had taken off from Busan Suyeong Airfield, was hijacked mid-flight and forcibly landed in Pyongyang. Fortunately, there were no casualties. The first fatalities resulting from an airline accident, rather than a hijacking, occurred on Aug 2nd, 1976, during the crash of Korean Air Flight 642. After departing Mehrabad International Airport in Iran, the aircraft experienced an unexplained engine fire and crashed into a mountainous area, killing all five crew members onboard.
Among domestic aviation disasters, the Korean Air Boeing 747 shot down near Kamchatka, Soviet Union on Sep 1st, 1983 claimed the most lives, with 269 fatalities. Another major tragedy occurred on Nov 29th, 1987, when a Korean Air passenger plane exploded mid-air over Yangon, Myanmar due to a bomb attack, killing 115 people. In August 1997, a Korean Air flight crashed while attempting to land at Guam International Airport, resulting in 228 deaths and 26 serious injuries.
In the 2000s, one of the most notable accidents occurred in July 2013, when an Asiana Airlines passenger plane struck a seawall while landing at San Francisco International Airport. The crash resulted in three fatalities and injured 187 passengers.
The recent Jeju Air disaster marks the first large-scale fatal accident involving a low-cost carrier. LCC operations in Korea began in earnest in the mid-2000s, with Jeju Air recognized as a leading company in the industry. While there have been previous incidents, none resulted in casualties. In 2007, a flight from Jeju deviated from the runway upon landing at Gimhae Airport, but all 79 passengers were unharmed. Similarly, in 2013, a flight from Jeju carrying 193 passengers veered off the runway during landing at Gimpo Airport, again without injuries.
Over the past decade, 67 aviation incidents involving Korean national carriers resulted in 59 fatalities. According to the 2023 Disaster Yearbook by the Ministry of Interior and Safety, there were 67 aviation-related accidents (including airplanes and helicopters) involving Korean-flagged carriers from 2014 to 2023, with 59 deaths and 73 injuries reported.
