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       The scene of the crash at Muan International Airport on Saturday.Credit...Chang W. Lee/The New York Times

       A plane crash in South Korea killed nearly everyone on board A Boeing 737-800 plane operated by Jeju Air crashed while landing at an airport in South Korea yesterday, killing 179 of the 181 people on board. It was the worst aviation disaster involving a South Korean airline in almost three decades, officials said.

       The flight, which had taken off from Bangkok, was landing at Muan International Airport in the country’s southwest when it crashed around 9 a.m. local time. Footage of the accident shows a white and orange plane speeding down a runway on its belly until it hits a barrier and explodes. Two crew members were rescued from the tail section.

       Officials were investigating what caused the tragedy, including why the plane’s landing gear appeared to have malfunctioned, whether birds had struck the jet, or if bad weather had been a factor. Follow live updates here.

       The airport in Muan had warned the pilots about a potential bird strike as they were landing, a director of aviation policy at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said. The plane issued a mayday alert shortly afterward and then crash-landed, he added, saying later that the plane’s black boxes — which could help determine the cause of the crash — had been recovered.

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       What’s next: The crash is the first major test for Choi Sang-mok, South Korea’s acting president, who was appointed the interim leader on Friday after the previous acting president was impeached.

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