Airplane fires are among of the rarest types of fires in the country, but they inflict the most amount of financial damage, government data showed Friday.
There were 14 cases of fires breaking out on airplanes between 2015 and 2024, accounting for 0.003 percent of the total 405,977 fires that occurred in that same period, according to the National Fire Data System. When categorized by where the fire occurred, the only places that caught fire less frequently than airplanes were correctional facilities, with 13 cases.
Aviation facilities such as airports ranked No. 3 with 29 fires, followed by 31 fires each at port facilities, cultural heritage assets and military vehicles.
Fires that occurred outside accounted for 73,309, followed by 57,378 fires that started inside a home, 48,237 that occurred inside a car, 43,578 cases where a car was set ablaze, and 26,705 fires that started inside a restaurant.
In terms of the financial damage inflicted per case, airplane fires were found to be the most detrimental as they caused on average 257.6 million won ($177,000) in losses. Following airplane fires in costs were aviation facilities (196.6 million won), manufacturing facilities for hazardous materials (188.6 million won) and power plants (153 million won).
Korea saw yet-another plane-related accident on Tuesday, when an Air Busan flight bound for Hong Kong caught fire while preparing to take off from Gimhae International Airport in the southern port city of Busan. All 169 passengers and seven crew escaped to safety, but the flames burned nearly half of the fuselage while the wings and engines remain undamaged.
The exact financial damage by the Busan Air flight has not been determined as of yet, although it is expected to be substantial and will probably drive up the aforementioned average cost of damage from airplane fires.
A new Airbus A321 aircraft is typically purchased at around $114 million. Of course the A321-200 model owned by Air Busan that caught fire on Tuesday is 17 years old, and is thus worth far less than new models.
minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com
