South Korea’s acting president Choi Sang-mok ordered an emergency safety review of the country’s entire airline system amid a plane crash that killed 179 people, according to Reuters.
All 175 passengers and four of the six crew members perished when a Jeju Air Boeing 737-800 landed and flew off the runway at Muan International Airport. The two remaining crew members were pulled out alive.
The top priority at the moment was to support families of the victims and treat the two survivors, Choi said at a disaster management meeting in Seoul.
Even before the final results are out, we ask that officials transparently disclose the accident investigation process and promptly inform the bereaved families. As soon as the accident recovery is conducted, the transport ministry is requested to conduct an emergency safety inspection of the entire aircraft operation system to prevent recurrence of aircraft accidents.
The Transport Ministry stated that authorities were considering a special inspection of all 101 Boeing 737-800 aircraft operated by South Korean airlines.
Experts say many questions remain, including why the plane, powered by two CFM 56-7B26 engines, flew so fast and why its landing gear was not released as it slid down the runway and into a wall. Fire officials said investigators were considering collisions with birds and weather conditions as possible factors contributing to the crash.
Transport ministry officials said on Monday that as the pilots were making a planned landing approach, they informed air traffic control that the plane had suffered a collision with a bird. The pilots then signalled a mayday and announced their intention to abandon the landing, go for a second lap and try again.
Shortly after, the plane landed on the runway, driving about 1,200 metres along the 2,800-metre-long runway and crashing into a structure at the end of the runway. Officials investigate what role a localiser antenna, located at the end of the runway to facilitate the landing, including the embankment on which it stood, played in the crash.
