179 people killed and two survived a jet crash at a South Korean airport

A passenger plane caught fire Sunday morning after skidding off a runway at a South Korean airport and colliding with a concrete fence when its front landing gear apparently failed to deploy, killing 179 of the 181 people on board, according to officials.

According to the local fire service, just two of the 181 persons on board the plane survived after 179 others were certified dead. The two crew members were recovered alive from the accident site.

It is South Korea's biggest aviation tragedy since 1997, when a Korean Airlines Boeing 747 crashed in the Guam forest, killing 228 people.

Jeju Air Flight 7C 2216 from Bangkok was carrying 175 passengers and six crew when it crashed at the airport in Muan county, on the country's southwestern edge, shortly after 9 a.m. local time Sunday (7 p.m. ET Saturday).

Multiple South Korean news sites carried footage of Sunday's disaster, which showed the jet sliding on its belly at high speeds before colliding with an earthen embankment and exploding in a flame.

According to the South Jeolla Fire Service, the victims are 84 men, 85 women, and 10 persons whose gender could not be identified. The rescue team reported that both survivors were crew members, one male and one female.

According to Ju Woong, director of Ewha Woman's University Seoul Hospital, one of them, a 33-year-old flight attendant identified by his surname, Lee, sustained multiple injuries, including fractured ribs and traumatic spinal injuries.

The other survivor, a 25-year-old lady with the surname Koo, was transported to Asan Medical Center in Seoul. Koo allegedly suffered ankle and head injuries but was in stable condition.

The South Korean Land Ministry said that two Thai nationals were among those on board. All of the other passengers were South Korean.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is heading a team of US investigators, including those from Boeing and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), to help South Korean authorities investigate the disaster. The NTSB stated that any information concerning the inquiry will be given by South Korea's Aviation and Railway Accident inquiry Board (ARAIB).

Boeing expressed its sympathies to the families of the victims and stated that it was in communication with the airline. In a statement, Jeju Air apologized to "everyone affected" by the event.

“Above all, we offer our heartfelt condolences and apologies to the passengers who tragically lost their lives in the accident and to their bereaved families,” Jeju Air CEO Kim E-bae said, assuming “full responsibility for this tragedy” and adding that the airline would provide support for the passengers’ families.

Choi Sang-mok, South Korea's acting president, has asked for urgent and full mobilization measures "to put out the fire and rescue people," according to a statement from the Ministry of Interior and Safety.