An Air Busan Airbus A321 burst into flames at Busan Gimhae International Airport (PUS) after the aircraft’s tail caught fire before takeoff, according to Yonhap News.
According to reports the Air Busan flight BX391, was preparing to depart for Hong Kong International Airport (HKG) on January 28, 2024, just before 22:30, local time, when a fire developed at the rear of the plane.
Yonhap News confirmed that 168 passengers and seven crew members managed to escape using the emergency slides that were deployed, although three people sustained non-life-threatening injuries.
Photos taken from the incident scene and shared on social media show the Airbus A321-232 (registered HL7763) severely damaged at Busan Gimhae International Airport.
South Korean firefighters are understood to have attended the scene within minutes and the fire appears to have been extinguished.
Now: Air Busan Airbus A321 caught fire at Gimhae International Airport in South Korea — a fire broke out in the tail section of the aircraft prior to departure.
All of the 169 passengers and seven crews onboard have evacuted safely, per state news agency. pic.twitter.com/ax2I1BslYZ
— Alex Macheras (@AlexInAir) January 28, 2025
“We believe all 176 people have evacuated, but we are searching inside the craft just in case,” an official told Yonhap News.
The incident comes just a few weeks after a Jeju Air Boeing 737-800 crashed into a concrete localizer structure at Muan International Airport (MWX) on December 29, 2024.
During the tragic incident 179 people on the flight were killed while two flight attendants managed to escape alive.
A preliminary report into the incident released on January 27, 2025, by South Korea’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) suggested that a bird strike may have been the primary cause.
This is a developing story.
