A passenger aircraft’s tail caught fire at Gimhae International Airport in Busan, South Korea, late Tuesday, prompting the emergency evacuation of 176 people on board, according to Yonhap News Agency.
The Air Busan flight, bound for Hong Kong, caught fire around 10:30 p.m. local time (1330 GMT). All 169 passengers and seven crew members escaped using inflatable slides, with one person reportedly injured. Details about the injury and the cause of the fire remain unclear.
Local fire authorities were unavailable for comment when contacted by AFP, and investigations into the incident are ongoing.
This event follows South Korea’s deadliest aviation disaster in decades, which occurred just last month. On December 29, a Jeju Air Boeing 737-800 crash-landed at Muan International Airport after arriving from Thailand. The aircraft exploded after hitting a concrete barrier, killing 179 of the 181 passengers and crew on board.
Air Busan, a low-cost carrier, operates an all-Airbus fleet, according to aviation tracker Flightradar24.
