Runway operations at the Philippines’ Mactan Cebu International Airport temporarily resumed from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. local time on Monday for departing flights as salvage crews worked to recover a severely damaged Korean Air Airbus A330-300 that overran the runway late Sunday during heavy rain. All 162 passengers and 11 crew members on board survived the crash, which happened at 11:11 p.m., after Flight KE631 from Seoul executed two separate go-arounds due to weather conditions.
According to FlightRadar24, the aircraft struck an instrument landing system lighting array before coming to rest about 300 meters beyond the runway.
Delivered new to Korean Air in 1998, the Airbus widebody sustained severe damage to the forward fuselage, as the front of the airplane tipped forward onto its nose, shearing off much of its underbelly.
The overrun adds to a fairly long list of Korean Air accidents and incidents over the years, including a 1997 crash that killed 228 people and the 1999 crash of a Korean Air Cargo Boeing 747 in which all four crewmembers died. Thankfully for Korean Air, it has suffered no further fatal accidents since then, although last month one of its Boeing 777-300ERs clipped the tail of an Icelandair Boeing 757-200 on the ground at Heathrow Airport, resulting in no injuries.
This most recent accident prompted Korean Air president Keehong Woo to issue a statement stressing the airline’s safety priorities. “We remain committed to standing behind our promise of safe operations and will do our very best to institute measures to prevent any recurrence,” he said. “Our overall goal is for our valued guests to trust that Korean Air will treat them well, and honor us with the opportunity to welcome them once again.”