Passengers evacuated from an Air Busan plane that was engulfed in flames this week at a South Korean airport will have their checked baggage returned to them, after authorities on Friday deemed the jet safe for a full investigation.

South Korean officials are launching an investigation into the cause of the fire that engulfed an Air Busan passenger plane while awaiting takeoff at Busan's Gimhae International Airport, with some eyewitness accounts leading to speculation that a portable power bank may have caused the blaze.

This comes a month after the Jeju Air plane crash on Dec. 29, 2024, that killed 179 passengers and crew members. It was the worst domestic civil aviation disaster in South Korea's history. The Jeju Air flight, which was returning from Bangkok, Thailand, veered off the runway and collided with a fence.

Concerns have been raised about the safety risk of bringing portable batteries in carry-on luggage for flights, as a lithium-ion battery is suspected as the cause of the fire that destroyed Air Busan’s passenger plane on Tuesday night.

An Air Busan plane caught fire at Gimhae International Airport, Busan, South Korea, with 169 passengers and seven crew members on board, who were safely evacuated. The incident follows the recent deadly Jeju Air crash at Muan Airport,

SEOUL - An Airbus plane belonging to South Korean carrier Air Busan caught fire on Tuesday (Jan 28) at Gimhae International Airport in the country's south while preparing for departure to Hong Kong, fire authorities said.

An investigation into a fire that engulfed an Air Busan plane at a South Korean airport this week is being slowed by a large amount of fuel and oxygen still on board, an air crash investigation official told Reuters.

A passenger plane operated by Air Busan caught fire before takeoff at an airport in South Korea; all 176 people on board were safely evacuated using an escape slide.

The authorities decided to proceed with the joint investigation to determine the cause of the recent blaze aboard an Air Busan without first removing the aviation fuel, the Transport Ministry announced Friday.