A flight operated by Air Busan, a South Korean low-cost carrier (LCC), caught fire while waiting for takeoff at Gimhae Airport after a delay of about 20 minutes, authorities said Monday. The delay likely prevented a more serious accident, as the aircraft had not yet left the ground when the fire broke out.
Some passengers criticized the emergency response, saying there was a lack of clear evacuation instructions despite the fire occurring while the plane was still on the tarmac.
According to South Korea’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, the Air Busan BX391 flight bound for Hong Kong was preparing for takeoff at around 10:15 p.m. on Jan. 28, when a fire erupted near the rear of the aircraft. The plane was carrying 169 passengers and seven crew members.
The flight had been scheduled to depart at 9:55 p.m., but takeoff was delayed. The aircraft’s doors were closed at the time of the fire. Several passengers recalled that everyone was seated with their seatbelts fastened when they heard someone shout, “Fire!” Thick smoke soon spread toward the front of the cabin.
“I remember the announcement saying that the flight was delayed by about 20 minutes because of the gap between our plane and the one ahead of us,” a passenger said. “About five minutes later, the fire broke out.”
Flight attendants attempted to put out the fire with extinguishers, but the smoke quickly intensified, making their efforts unsuccessful, witnesses said.
“They didn’t tell the passengers near the fire to evacuate, and no one told us to leave our bags behind,” one passenger said. “It was chaos, with some people grabbing their belongings while others were trying to escape.”
Experts noted that while not all fires require emergency evacuations, the blaze in this case was severe enough to justify a quicker response. Because deploying emergency slides and safely evacuating passengers requires shutting down the engines first, the pilot’s decision-making is crucial. If the engines remain running, passengers could be sucked into them during evacuation.
“The investigation isn’t complete yet, but there seems to have been a delay in the evacuation process and communication with passengers,” said Kim In-kyu, head of the flight training center at Korea Aerospace University.
In contrast, during a collision at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport last year between a Japan Airlines jet and a Japan Coast Guard aircraft, flight attendants successfully guided all 379 passengers to safety, even though the plane’s announcement system had failed. Crew members shouted for passengers to leave their belongings behind and evacuate immediately, which experts said was a key factor in the safe escape.
The Air Busan aircraft had been fully fueled before takeoff, carrying 35,000 pounds of aviation fuel in its wings. If the fire had broken out mid-flight, the consequences could have been far worse.
“If the fire had started just a little later, after takeoff, the situation could have been catastrophic,” one passenger said. “It’s terrifying to even think about it.”
Following the incident, the transport ministry shut down three of the 40 parking spots at Gimhae Airport near the burned aircraft. However, the 271 flights scheduled for Monday were set to operate as planned, the ministry said.