What is known about the cause of tragic plane crash which left 179 people dead in South Korea

South Korea is in mourning after 179 people when a Jeju Airways 7C2216 flight crashed into a dirt berm and concrete wall at Muan International Airport after a suspected bird strike.

Retired A380 Captain James Nixon says things happened so fast after a bird strike appeared to take out the right engine according to an observer.

“For them to call a mayday rather than a pan call, now they realise they’re in dire straits, so probably they lost both engines – that’s what we’re thinking,” he told Shane McInnes, filling in for Tony Moclair.

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Two flight attendents at the back of the plane survived while 177 South Korean and two Thai nationals were killed.

Image: Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images