Accident Overview
On Tuesday, January 28, 2025, at 22:13 local time (UTC+9), an Air Busan Airbus A321-200, registration HL7763, operating as flight BX391 from Busan to Hong Kong, caught fire while on the ground at Gimhae International Airport (RKPK). The aircraft was destroyed. According to the preliminary report from the Aviation and Railway Accident Investigation Board (ARAIB), there were 3 serious injuries and 24 minor injuries among the occupants. No fatalities are mentioned in the report.
History of Flight
The aircraft had 176 people on board: 6 crew members and 170 passengers. The original departure time was 21:55. At 22:04, the entry door was closed and the aircraft was on standby at the ramp. The ramp controller informed the crew that pushback was rescheduled to 22:33 due to en-route separation. The captain then instructed a ground agent to prepare for pushback at 22:30 and announced the delay to passengers after a cabin safety briefing.
At 22:14, an "LAV Smoke" warning appeared in the cockpit. Shortly after, a cabin crew member reported a fire in the rear of the cabin. The captain ordered the cabin manager to begin an emergency evacuation. At 22:15, the captain announced "Evacuate, Evacuate" and performed the emergency evacuation checklist with the co-pilot. He then notified air traffic control about the evacuation due to fire. The captain was the last to evacuate after confirming all passengers had left the aircraft.
Fire trucks arrived at 22:17 and confirmed that all occupants had evacuated. Fire suppression operations began at 22:20 and were completed at 23:31.
Injuries and Aircraft Damage
The fire consumed the upper fuselage. The engines and wings were affected but remained structurally intact. The aircraft was loaded with 35,900 lbs (16.3 tons) of fuel. Damage to the aircraft was classified as destroyed. Among the occupants, 3 crew or passengers sustained serious injuries, and 24 had minor injuries. The report does not specify whether the injuries were to crew or passengers individually, only total numbers per category: 3 serious and 24 minor.
Emergency Evacuation
Emergency evacuation was carried out using seven emergency slides deployed from each door, except the R1 door. All passengers and crew evacuated before fire trucks arrived.
Investigation
The ARAIB is conducting a comprehensive investigation. The flight data recorder (FDR) and cockpit voice recorder (CVR) were recovered and are under analysis. The investigation is ongoing with assistance from foreign authorities including the NTSB (USA), BEA (France), and BFU (Germany). The preliminary report states that the cause of the accident has not yet been determined; further analysis will cover fire identification, FDR/CVR data, air traffic control data, aircraft components, and witness interviews.