An Air Busan plane caught fire at an airport in Busan, South Korea, on Tuesday night, prompting the evacuation of all passengers and crew members, according to officials.
The aircraft, an Airbus A321, was scheduled to fly to Hong Kong from Gimhae International Airport when a fire erupted near its tail at approximately 10:30 p.m., just before takeoff.
All 176 individuals on board, including 169 passengers, six flight attendants, and a flight engineer, successfully evacuated using emergency slides, as reported by South Korea’s Transport Ministry. Some minor injuries were noted, with at least two passengers hospitalized due to bruises sustained during the evacuation.
Local media broadcast videos and photos showing fire engines combating flames on the plane’s fuselage while smoke billowed from the aircraft. The fire was extinguished around 11:30 p.m., according to the fire department.
The cause of the fire remains unclear, and investigators from the Transport Ministry and the Aviation and Railway Accident Investigation Board will conduct an inquiry into the incident.
Air Busan, a low-cost carrier operating domestic and international flights from Busan, is a subsidiary of Asiana Airlines, one of South Korea’s two major airlines. The aircraft had arrived in Busan from Jeju shortly before 9 p.m. local time, as per Flightradar24, a flight tracking service.
Just days prior, South Korea’s transportation officials had urged low-cost airlines to prioritize safety over profit following a crash last month that resulted in the worst aviation disaster in the country’s history, claiming 179 lives. This incident raised significant concerns regarding aviation safety measures.
A safety inspection by the Transport Ministry revealed that seven South Korean airports and several airlines were violating existing safety standards.
The plane involved in the fire was registered as HL7763 and designated as Flight ABL391. It is a 17-year-old Airbus A321-200, built in 2007, and was previously operated by Asiana Airlines before being transferred to Air Busan in May 2017, according to Transport Ministry records.
Airbus and Asiana Airlines did not provide immediate comments regarding the incident.
The aircraft has a seating capacity of 195 passengers and is one of eight such planes operated by Air Busan, according to aviation data firm Cirium. It is leased from AerCap, an Irish company specializing in aircraft leasing.
The jet, built in 2007, is powered by engines manufactured by International Aero Engines, a joint venture involving Pratt & Whitney, Japanese Aero Engine Corporation, and MTU Aero Engines in Germany.
Globally, over 1,500 airplanes from the same A321 generation are in active service, with the oldest exceeding 30 years of age, which experts indicate is not unusual or unsafe if the aircraft are well maintained.