How did South Korea’s Jeju Air plane crash? Here’s what we know

Acting President Choi Sang-mok orders an extensive probe into the crash and the country’s airline safety systems.

South Korea is in a state of mourning after a plane crash killed 179 people in what is now being called one of the country’s worst aviation disasters. Only two people survived the accident.

Authorities are still scrambling to pinpoint the exact reason why the aircraft – Jeju Air Flight 2216 from Thailand to South Korea – malfunctioned while landing on Sunday, leading it to crash into a concrete barrier and go up in flames.

Officials said they are painstakingly identifying victims’ bodies, which were extensively damaged in the crash. Some families are angry, however, and blame the authorities for being too slow to release the bodies of their loved ones.

Sunday’s disaster comes days after an Azerbaijan Airlines flight crashed in the Kazakh city of Aktau on Wednesday, killing 38 people and injuring 29. The flight was on its way to Grozny in Russia’s Chechnya region.

South Korean authorities have declared seven days of national mourning. Acting President Choi Sang-mok has also ordered an extensive probe into the crash and an emergency check of the country’s entire airline safety system.