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South Korean authorities say they will improve the wall-like structures found near the end of runways following last month’s fatal 737 crash.
The country’s Transport Ministry added it had identified seven domestic airports, including Muan, that had what it called “localizers” that contained the instrument landing system.
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Teams will now attempt to improve the structures to make them safer by the end of January and fully complete the upgrade by the end of this year.
The Jeju 737-800 burst into flames on 29 December after skidding off the runway and crashing into a structure, killing all but two onboard.
The aircraft was reportedly struck by birds on approach, but confusion remains over why the crew could not lower the landing gear or flaps, which would have slowed the narrow-body down.
Critics have also questioned why such a large structure was placed near the end of the runway, given the aircraft would likely have survived if it wasn’t there.
David Learmount, a former RAF instructor, for example, even described the placement as “verging on criminal”.
“Very little damage is being done to the aeroplane as it skids down the runway, goes off the end, then it comes to this object here [the wall],” he told the UK’s Sky News.
“He carried off as good a landing as he possibly could, and when he got to the end of the landing run, the aircraft was substantially undamaged, and there was no fire.
“And then the aircraft hit something really hard, burst into flames, and that’s what killed the people on board.”
In total, 175 passengers were on board, including 173 South Koreans and two Thai nationals, alongside six crew.
The two survivors were both identified as members of the crew who sat at the back of the aircraft and suffered severe but not immediately life-threatening injuries.
The news of the changes to the structures comes days after South Korea’s Transport Ministry also revealed that the two black boxes recovered stopped recording four minutes before the impact.
“Plans are in place to investigate the cause of the data loss during the ongoing accident investigation,” the ministry said.
