Footage of the crash aired by South Korean television shows the plane skidding across an airstrip at high speed, evidently with its landing gear still closed, and slamming into a wall, triggering an explosion and generating plumes of thick, black smoke.

An official investigation into the cause of the crash is expected to take months as the jet’s flight data and cockpit voice recorders are analysed, but authorities have initially mentioned a possible birdstrike as one potential factor in the devastating crash.

The Boeing 737-800 operated by Jeju Air plane arrived from Bangkok and crashed while attempting to land in the town of Muan, about 290 kilometres south of Seoul.

The chief of the Muan fire station, Lee Jeong-hyeon, told a televised briefing that the plane was completely destroyed, with only the tail assembly still recognisable in the wreckage.

Officials were investigating the cause of the crash, including whether the aircraft was struck by birds, Lee said.

The control tower issued a warning about birds to the plane shortly before it intended to land and gave the crew permission to land in a different area, Transport Ministry officials said. The crew sent out a distress signal shortly before the crash, officials said.

Aviation expert Professor Ron Bartsch told the Today Show many questions remained unanswered about the cause of the crash.

However, there were likely to be more factors involved than just a birdstrike, Bartsch said.

“I suspect that the initial reports that have indicated that birdstrike or weather may have been a contributing factor, but to me, that’s pretty unlikely that a birdstrike alone would be sufficient to bring down an aircraft or to foresee landing gear not to be able to be operative,” he said.

The fact that the plane did not have its landing gear out as it attempted to touch down could mean there was a larger problem at play with the aircraft, Bartsch said.

“Obviously the pilot would have known the high risk of landing without the availability of reverse thrust or flaps to slow the aircraft down coming into land. 

“So it may have been, and this is only speculation, that there may have been something more sinister on board the aircraft that could have caused it.”

The Boeing 737-800 was “a workhorse and very, very reliable and safe aircraft”, Bartsch said, unlike the newer Boeing Max.

“It’s used by Qantas and Virgin extensively throughout Australia.”

John Cox, a retired airline pilot and CEO of Safety Operating Systems in St. Petersburg, Florida, told the Associated Press one possible cause of the crash could have been a hydraulic failure, given the pilots did not deploy flaps or slats to slow the aircraft.

Despite that, the jetliner was under control and travelling in a straight line, and damage and injuries likely would have been minimised if not for a barrier being so close to the runway, Cox said.

“It’s all in one piece. Everything is coming along fine until it hits that wall, at which point it disintegrates into a catastrophe,” he said.

Another aviation expert said videos showed the aircraft had used up much of the runway before touching down. With little braking ability, the aircraft skidded atop its engine cowlings, said Ross “Rusty” Aimer, CEO of Aero Consulting Experts.

“It’s basically like skidding on ice,” he said.