Heartbreaking final text of passenger on doomed South Korea plane as they asked loved one: ‘Should I say my last words?’
THIS is the heartbreaking final text from a passenger on the doomed South Korean passenger plane.
The messages shared with local TV were sent to a family member who was waiting for the unnamed traveller at Muan International Airport.
With a Hello Kitty profile picture, the text message exchange happened just two minutes before the fireball crash.
“A bird got stuck in the wing, so we can’t land,” wrote the passenger to their waiting relative.
They were then asked how long that had been the case.
The passenger then replies with a chilling final message, saying: “Just now, should I say my last words?”
Heartbreakingly the traveller has not been heard from since – and it is feared 179 people died in the crash.
Everyone on board the packed jet – which was flying in from Bangkok – is believed to have been killed except for two miracle survivors.
Both survivors have been reported to be crew members who were seated at the back of the plane.
Air crash investigators are now desperately trying to piece together what happened to the Boeing 737-800.
Jeju Air flight 7C 2216 from Bangkok was carrying 175 passengers and six crew from Bangkok to Muan International Airport.
Six minutes before it landed – the pilot was sent a warning about a possible bird strike risk.
And then one minute later, the pilot issued a mayday call.
Footage taken from the ground appears to show a puff of smoke coming from the engine.
It comes as:
- Only two people have been survived with 179 feared dead in the horror crash
- Terrifying footage shows the explosion as the Boeing tried a ‘belly landing’ at Muan International Airport
- Investigators have recovered the jet’s Black Box as they try to piece together the cause of the crash
- Footage emerged of it striking birds moments before landing – and a survivor said they heard an explosion
- Another horror landing also happened in Canada – and a second in Norway on the same night
Witnesses reported hearing an explosion and a grinding noise as the plane flew overhead.
The pilot aborted their original landing attempt – before then trying again at 09.03am on a different runway.
It appears the jet’s landing gear had failed, and the skidded along the tarmac on its belly.
Crashing into an embankment – the Boeing then went up in an enormous fireball.
Weeping families have been seen gathering at the airport as South Korea comes to terms with its worst air disaster in decades.
The black box flight recorder has been recovered from the wreck with officials probing the cause of the disaster.
Most of the passengers were Koreans who were on a Christmas package holiday to Thailand.
Muan International Airport is in Muan county, about 179 miles southwest of Seoul.
Boeing said that it was in touch with Jeju Air and stood “ready to support them”.
Some 82 of the confirmed dead are men and 83 women, while 11 can’t be identified as their body is too badly burned.
Timeline of Muan plane disaster
By James Halpin, Foreign News Reporter
SOUTH Korea has suffered its deadliest air disaster in history as a jet carrying 181 went down with only two survivors.
4.30am – Jeju Air flight 7C 2216 leaves Bangkok carrying tourists coming home from package holidays in Thailand
8.57am – Pilot receives bird strike warning on approach to Muan International Airport
8.58am – Pilot issues a mayday call – and witnesses report hearing an “explosion” overheard as video shows an apparent bird strike
9.00am – Plane aborts first landing attempt on Runway 01
9.03am – The jet then attempts a second landing on Runway 19 on its belly – and crashes in a fireball