Bits of plane seats and luggage were strewn across the field next to the runway, not far from the charred tail, offering a glimpse into the catastrophic impact of the crash.

• 'Mayday' -

All of the passengers were Korean apart from two Thais, with the youngest a three-year-old boy and the oldest a 78-year-old, authorities said.

"I had a son on board that plane," an elderly man waiting in the airport lounge, who asked not to be named, told AFP.

"My younger sister went to heaven today," a 65-year-old woman, who gave only her surname Jo, told AFP.