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.
— Alex Macheras (@AlexInAir) January 28, 2025
All of the 169 passengers and seven crews onboard have evacuted safely, per state news agency. pic.twitter.com/ax2I1BslYZ
“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.
⚠️🚩 Accident survenu à l' @Airbus #A321 immatriculé HL7763 exploité par #AirBusan le 28/01/25 à l'aéroport de #Busan en Corée du Sud / Travail sur site en cours (enquête dirigée par ARAIB – publication avec leur accord).
— BEA ✈️ ⚙️🔬🇫🇷 (@BEA_Aero) January 31, 2025
⚠️ 🚩Accident to the @Airbus #A321 registered HL7763… pic.twitter.com/dHqIJfW072
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.
2 comments
If the fire started in the tail, why is the greater damage forward, near the cockpit? The rear cabin area shows very little damage. I realize the interior contents are highly flammable, but it seems the damage should be more equal if that’s the reason.
The Auxiliary Power Unit (APU) is located in the tail area and is often used to start up power to the airplane such as AC and Electrical. The control to start the APU is in the flight deck and there are wires that run between the two units. Possibly unknown but assumption is that the APU overheated or there was a short circuit in the wiring between the flight deck and the apu and that “could” be a cause?