A plane carrying 175 passengers and six crew has tragically crashed into a wall at Muan International Airport in South Korea, bursting into flames and killing all but two of the people on board.

The aircraft is seen in horrifying footage veering off the runway before smashing into the wall. It comes after another aeroplane tragedy in Azerbaijan on Christmas Day has shocked the world.

According to South Korean news agency Yonhap, fire crews now believe all but two of the people on board the plane have been killed, making this one of the worst air disasters of all time. Two people have been pulled from the wreckage alive.

The crash occurred during landing, after the plane’s landing gear malfunctioned and footage shows it skidding along the runway with no wheels on the ground.

Shocking footage shows the moment it skids on the runway and crashes into the fence after seeming to have an issue with its landing gear:

The aircraft had flown from Bangkok, Thailand, with 173 South Korean and two Thai nationals on board.

The flight was operated by Jeju Air. After the worst tragedy for a South Korean plane since 1997, when 229 people died after a Korean Air jet slammed into a hill in Guam, the company said: “Jeju Air deeply bows in apology to all those affected by the Muan Airport accident. Our first priority is to do everything possible to manage this incident. We sincerely apologise for causing concern.”

Desperate firefighters raced to the scene and battled huge flames and mangled sections of the plane in a bid to save people trapped in the tail section.

Local media reports a passenger on board the plane texted a loved one saying that a “bird got caught on the wing and we couldn’t land.”

The loved one, referred to in South Korean media as Mr A, told reporters he was waiting for his family at the airport and said: “I have not been able to contact them since my family contacted me saying there was a problem with the plane.” Then, heartbreakingly, their relative asked in their last message: “Should I make a will?”

One eyewitness claimed “a flock of migratory ducks collided with the plane and less than five minutes later, a loud explosion was heard.”

Naver News says the witness was fishing near Muan Airport at 9am local time and told local news outlet KBC: “The plane was flying low to land when it collided with the flock of ducks. The ducks then started to scatter like crazy and it looked like the plane was on fire.

“Then, a moment later, there was a loud bang and a huge amount of smoke rose into the sky.” He said the airport crash then took place under five minutes after the plane hit the flock of ducks.

All flights to and from Muan Airport in Jeollanam-do have been cancelled.

It is thought the landing gear of the Jeju Air flight failed to deploy properly, forcing the pilots to abort before going round again to attempt a belly landing.

According to Flightradar data, the plane was a Boeing 737 that departed from Bangkok at 2.29am local time and was due to arrive in South Korea at 8.30am – but instead had landed at 8.59am.

The ill-fated flight, Jeju Air Flight 7C2216, had flown from Bangkok with a total of 181 people on board. Following the crash, the plane exploded, sustaining severe damage and catching fire.

The South Korean National Fire Agency said that the aircraft is believed to have experienced an issue with landing gear due to bird strike at the airport some 288 miles away from Seoul.

A terrifying image being carried on Yonhap shows a plane smashed to pieces and in flames at the side of the airport runway – see above.

The South Korean Land, Infrastructure, and Transport Ministry is investigating the crash. The National Fire Agency said that the aircraft is believed to have experienced an issue with a landing gear due to a bird strike.

In horrifying video footage from the crash in Jeollanam-do, the southernmost province in mainland Korea, the plane is seen skidding on the runway before hitting a wall and exploding in a fireball.

Jeju Air is a budget airline from South Korea running routes across Asia.

This is the second time the company has suffered a crash, with a smaller passenger plane overshooting a runway in 2007 in South Korea. That time there were no fatalities with only four people suffering minor injuries.

Worrying photos from the scene show a huge plume of black smoke rising into the air and an inferno raging.

Acting President Choi has ordered the mobilisation of all available manpower and equipment for the rescue effort. An investigation is underway.

Emergency services received the call at 9am local time and authorities are now working to rescue people trapped in the tail section.

Acting President Choi Sung-mok, who was only named interim leader of South Korea on Friday after his predecessor was impeached, has ordered an all-out rescue effort.

Authorities were conducting an investigation on the site to determine the exact cause of the crash and rescue operations were also under way, the officials said.

It is thought the accident happened after the plane caught fire when its landing gear malfunctioned.

It comes after Vladimir Putin has apologised to Azerbaijan’s president after the downing of a commercial airline over Russia that left 38 dead.

The Kremlin said the “tragic incident” on Wednesday occurred as air defense systems were firing near Grozny, the regional capital of the Russian republic of Chechnya, in response to a Ukrainian drone strike.