Apr 16, 2002 4 min read

KIMHAE, South Korea (AP) – Its passengers screaming in terror, a Chinese jet plowed into a fog-shrouded mountain in South Korea on Monday, killing at least 118 people. The plane caught fire and skidded 100 yards but somehow 39 of those aboard survived. The Air China Boeing 767-200, on a nonstop flight from Beijing, was approaching Kimhae Airport outside Busan, South Korea’s second largest city, when it hit a 1,000-foot mountain near a residential area, police said. There were no casualties on the ground.

Survivors said Flight CA-129 crashed shortly after passengers were told to buckle their seat belts and prepare for landing.

“The plane suddenly dipped, then rose and then went down again. Seconds later, there was a big bang and I was knocked unconscious,” said Jin Wenxue, a 35-year-old Korean-Chinese man from China’s Jilin province.

The plane hit one side of the mountain and then plowed toward the peak, catching fire and cutting a trail of fallen trees 100 yards long and 30 yards wide.

“Bodies were burning in the mud. Survivors were crying in pain,” said Bae Han-sol, 15, who rushed to the site after the plane skimmed over his village with a roar.

“We seldom see planes flying over our village, so I thought it was strange that the plane, trembling, flew toward the mountain in fog,” Bae said.

Dozens of people were rescued alive, but several died in hospitals. Police said 118 people were confirmed dead, nine missing and 39 alive. Most of the passengers were South Koreans.

Aviation officials said many of the survivors were in the front part of the aircraft, indicating the jet’s tail and fuselage hit the ground first. They also said the plane slowed as it skidded through the trees.

A South Korean travel agency executive said he received a call around the time of the crash from a passenger aboard the plane who said it appeared to be in trouble.

“The caller said, ‘The plane seems to have problems, maybe, an accident,”‘ Kim Yu-seok said. “After a brief silence, I heard people screaming over the phone.”

“Then the phone got disconnected,” Kim said. He said the call lasted 15 to 20 seconds and that he at first dismissed it as prank, but then realized the caller was Lee Kang-dae, an adviser to his company who was on the flight from Beijing. He said Lee was among the survivors.

Kimhae Airport is used for both civilian and military planes, and air force personnel staff the control tower. Air force Col. Kim Sung-hwi said the plane was given permission to land because weather conditions were good enough.

Police said light rain, low clouds and dense fog reduced visibility at the time of the crash.

Aviation officials said controllers had asked the pilot to change direction before landing due to a strong headwind, and that it hit the mountain while circling around to other side of the airport.

Kim Jong-hwi, a Transportation Ministry official, said it flew 1.6 miles beyond a designated point to change its direction.

“The pilot appears to have made a wrong reading of the terrain,” Kim said on South Korea’s YTN television.

Ham Dae-young, a South Korean air traffic official, also said the cause appeared to be pilot error.

“We believe this is a classic case of CFIT (controlled flight into terrain),” Ham said, suggesting the pilot flew into the mountainside by mistake. He said the pilot is to blame in 95 percent of such crashes.

The plane’s wreckage looked like shredded pieces of paper. Burned plane parts were scattered for 300 yards in all directions, and the broken tail and nose rested near the mountaintop. The air reeked of burning oil.

After the crash, hundreds of police, military and civilian workers combed through smoking wreckage, using shovels and electric torches, but their work was hampered by rain. Bad roads also slowed rescue efforts.

Quoting survivors, police said there was no explosion on the plane before the crash, an indication that it was an accident, not an act of terrorism.

The plane was carrying 11 Chinese crew members, 135 Koreans, 19 Chinese and one Uzbek passenger, Air China’s Seoul office said. It said the pilot, Wu Xing Lu, survived.

Air China is the country’s national flag carrier and one of three major international carriers based in China. The airline had not suffered a fatal crash since it was established in 1988.

Busan, 200 miles southeast of Seoul, used to be called Pusan. It is one of several South Korean cities whose spelling in English has been changed under a system adopted in 2000 to help foreigners pronounce names better.