SEOUL: With speculation rising over the cause of the fire on an Air Busan aircraft carrying 176 people late Tuesday (Jan 28) evening, authorities are planning to conduct a joint forensic investigation on Friday (Jan 31) with 10 officials from France’s Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety,

At 10.15pm on Jan 28, the Air Busan plane, an Airbus A321-200, bound for Hong Kong from Gimhae International Airport in Busan, caught fire at its tail before takeoff. According to testimony from passengers on board, a “crackling sound” could be heard from the overhead luggage compartment at the time, followed shortly by smoke.

On Tuesday, the Airbus plane operated by budget carrier Air Busan and bound for Hong Kong caught fire at Gimhae International Airport in the country's southern city of Busan before takeoff. All 176 people on board were safely evacuated using an escape slide, though seven suffered minor injuries.

SEOUL: South Korea’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport on Jan 29 dispatched officials and set up an emergency response team to investigate the cause of a fire that broke out on an Air Busan flight on Tuesday (Jan 28) evening.

A commercial airplane operated by a low-cost carrier caught fire while preparing for takeoff Tuesday at an international airport in B

This photo provided by a reader shows an Air Busan airplane on fire at Gimhae International Airport in Busan, 320 kilometers southeast of Seoul, on Jan. 28, 2025. Fire authorities said all 169 passengers and seven crew members safely evacuated.

An Air Busan plane caught fire at Gimhae International Airport in Busan in South Korea on Tuesday and all 169 passengers and seven crew members evacuated without casualties, Yonhap news agency reported,

On Tuesday, the Airbus plane operated by budget carrier Air Busan and bound for Hong Kong caught fire at Gimhae International Airport in the country's southern city of Busan before takeoff. All 176 people on board were safely evacuated using an escape slide, though seven suffered minor injuries.

The aviation and railway accident investigation board under the ministry held the meeting with local police, firefighting agencies and the National Forensic Service on Thursday to discuss how to ensure safety in conducting a joint probe, as 35,000 pounds of fuel was stored at the wings of the plane.

Korean Air will initially fly its long-range A350-900s on short-haul flights to Japan before flying to Europe later in the year.

A passenger plane caught fire before takeoff at an airport in South Korea late Tuesday, but all 176 people on board were safely evacuated, authorities said.