A horrific plane crash at an airport in South Korea is feared to have killed all but two of the 181 people on board the plane.

The Jeju Air passenger plane, a Boeing 737-800 jet, had departed from Bangkok, Thailand, and had crash landed at an airport in the South Korean town of Muan.

News footage of the crash showed the plane skidding down the runway with its landing gear appearing to still be closed before colliding with a wall and exploding in a fireball.

The crash occurred at 9:03am local time and the emergency services rushed to the site of the disaster to try and recover people.

Of the 181 people on board the plane at time of writing only two have been recovered alive from the crash, both of them crew members, leading to fears that the rest of the people on board have perished.

South Korea’s National Fire Agency confirmed that at least 174 people have died in the plane crash – 83 women, 80 men and 11 people who were not immediately identifiable because of the fire.

Officials said that the tail of the plane was the only recognisable part of the wreckage remaining after the crash, and investigations are now underway to determine what happened.

According to Korean transport ministry officials, an early assessment of communication logs indicates that the airport control tower issued a bird strike warning to the plane shortly before it landed and gave the aircraft permission to land elsewhere.

A distress signal had been sent out from the plane shortly before it crashed, while the aircraft’s flight data and cockpit recording has been recovered and will be studied as part of the investigation.

Jeju Air offered a ‘deep apology’ over the crash and in a statement the company said it would do the ‘utmost to manage the aftermath of the accident’.

Airline chief Kim E-bae said he feels ‘full responsibility’ for the disaster, and that the company had not identified any mechanical problems with the plane during routine checks.

He added that he would wait for the results of a government investigation into the plane crash and what caused it.

Boeing said they had been in contact with Jeju Air and would be willing to provide assistance in the aftermath of the crash, saying: “We extend our deepest condolences to the families who lost loved ones, and our thoughts remain with the passengers and crew.”

This devastating plane crash follows another recent tragedy where an Azerbaijan Airlines plane carrying 67 people went down in Kazakhstan on Christmas Day, leaving 38 people dead.

A survivor from the devastating Azerbaijan Airlines crash has spoken of the moment he realised he was alive.

The Azerbaijan Airlines crash, which left 38 dead in Kazakhstan, went down on Christmas Day earlier this week. With 67 people on board, Flight 8243’s crash is currently a mystery as investigations are underway.

The plane, which was traveling to Grozny, Russia from Baku, was filmed as it touched down during an emergency landing and went up in flames as soon as it hit the ground.

Miraculously, 29 people survived – including Zulfugar Asadov, a flight attendant, and Subhonkul Rakhimov, a passenger.

From his hospital bed in Baku, Asadov spoke to the New York Times in a phone interview, saying: “Thank God I’m alive.”

Having been in such a deadly crash, it’s understandable that it could take a while to come around to the idea that you survived. Telling Reuters in another interview the moment he realised he had made it, passenger Rakhimov said: “I thought that was my last prayer.”

“After the bang… I thought the plane was going to fall apart,” he added.

Seated in the back of the aircraft, he said his body was hit by something, and that he was twisting before it all went silent. The only thing that he could hear were people moaning – which is when he ‘realized that we have landed’.

He said. “I didn’t know what to do — whether to laugh or cry.”

According to Kazakhstan’s Deputy Prime Minister Kanat Bozumbayev, 11 people were in critical condition after being pulled from the wreckage.

He said, as per CNN: “The bodies are in poor condition, mostly burnt, all collected. Now they will be in the morgue, and identification will take place.”

While only one survivor’s identity remains unknown, Bozumbayev revealed: “She is unconscious, has no documents, and is in the hospital.”

One woman joined the rescue and told Radio Free Europe’s Kazakh Service that the scene before her made her cry.

She said: “The front (part of the plane) was on fire. We rescued the survivors. Their bodies were covered in blood. They were crying. Everyone was asking for help.”

The woman, known as Elmira, said there were children and teenagers among the survivors.

“A little girl came out. She looked at me and said, ‘Save my mom, my mom is still there’. She was crying and begging, ‘Please save her, save her’,” she said.

Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Russian officials have gone on to launch an investigation into the crash.

Azerbaijan Airlines has suggested that the plane had suffered ‘physical and technical external interference,’ as per translation from the New York Times.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said a Russian Emergencies Ministry plane with medical personnel and equipment was flying to Kazakhstan to assist in the rescue at a summit for the Commonwealth of Independent States.

He said: “Let’s hope for a speedy recovery of the injured ones and, of course, I am sure, a thorough investigation will be carried out. We will coordinate the work of our special and aviation services on all issues related to this tragedy.”