January 31, 2025
SEOUL – The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport on Wednesday dispatched officials and set up an emergency response team in joint with the National Fire Agency to investigate the cause of a fire that broke out on an Air Busan flight Tuesday evening.
At 10:26 p.m., the Air Busan plane, an Airbus A321-200, bound for Hong Kong from Gimhae International Airport in Busan, caught fire at its tail before takeoff.
All 176 people on board — 169 passengers and seven crew members — managed to evacuate safely by 11:31 p.m. Seven people were being treated for injuries as of Wednesday afternoon, with four of them being crew members with chest discomfort due to smoke inhalation and three with tailbone and back pain sustained while evacuating.
With testimonies of some passengers suggesting the fire broke out in an overhead compartment, acting President and Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok on Wednesday ordered a thorough investigation into the case.
“With some passengers even having suffered injuries while evacuating, swift follow-up measures are called for,” Choi said in his message released by the Finance Ministry.
According to the Transport Ministry’s aviation technical information system, the Air Busan aircraft had been in service for over 17 years, with no accident history in the past 12 years. Airplanes come under tighter inspection by the ministry after 20 years of service.
Meanwhile, passengers were quoted in local news reports as saying the fire appeared to have started from baggage stored in an overhead luggage compartment at the back of the plane.
“There was a crackling sound coming from the overhead luggage compartment, followed shortly by smoke,” a passenger who was sitting in the rear of the plane told Yonhap News Agency. “A flight attendant told us to stay seated and came with a fire extinguisher, but thick smoke had already filled the air by then and sparks were bursting out from the compartment.”
The passenger added, “As more smoke began to fill the cabin, a passenger sitting by the emergency exit opened the emergency gate, while another flight attendant opened the emergency gate on the other side, allowing passengers to evacuate. It was extremely chaotic and frightening.”
The exact source behind the “crackling” sound has not yet been identified by authorities.
Another passenger who was sitting at the front of the plane stated that they only became aware of the fire after hearing someone shout “Fire!” at the back.
“After all the passengers had taken their seats and fastened their seatbelts, we heard someone shout ‘Fire!’ from the back. There was no specific announcement made about the fire as smoke quickly began to spread toward the front of the cabin,” a passenger told News1.
“People from the back came running toward flight attendants (in the front), shouting, ‘There’s a fire! Open the door!’. I was so scared that I didn’t know what to do. People were pushing each other and falling amid the chaos.”
Some passengers also directed their criticism toward crew members on board the aircraft as well as the airline’s response. They said the crew members initially told the passengers to remain seated as they tried to extinguish the fire.
“They didn’t tell the passengers near the fire to evacuate, nor did they instruct people to leave their belongings behind. The chaos escalated as some were busy trying to grab their luggage while others tried to escape,” one passenger was quoted as telling Yonhap.
Following the evacuation, passengers told local media that there “didn’t seem to be a proper protocol or manual in place,” as airline officials only told passengers to go home or to go to the nearest hotel without further instructions.
Air Busan, in the meantime, said that upon receiving a report of the fire from the crew, the captain immediately shut down the hydraulic and fuel systems to prevent secondary damage. The pilot then declared an emergency evacuation to ensure all passengers could swiftly evacuate the aircraft.
The air carrier further explained that there was no time to make a planewide announcement, but that staff followed all appropriate procedures, including having a passenger who had previously been briefed by crew on emergency exit operations open the door for evacuation.