iscover
South Korean police have raided Muan airport and the offices of airline Jeju in relation to Sunday’s fatal 737 crash, according to new reports.
This content is available exclusively to Australian Aviation members.
A monthly membership is only $5.99 or save with our annual plans.
- Australian Aviation quarterly print & digital magazines
- Access to In Focus reports every month on our website
- Unlimited access to all Australian Aviation digital content
- Access to the Australian Aviation app
- Australian Aviation quarterly print & digital magazines
- Access to In Focus reports every month on our website
- Access to our Behind the Lens photo galleries and other exclusive content
- Daily news updates via our email bulletin
- Unlimited access to all Australian Aviation digital content
- Access to the Australian Aviation app
- Australian Aviation quarterly print & digital magazines
- Access to In Focus reports every month on our website
- Access to our Behind the Lens photo galleries and other exclusive content
- Daily news updates via our email bulletin
Authorities said a “search and seizure operation” was carried out on Thursday at three separation locations to investigate charges of professional negligence resulting in death.
A police official told Reuters that officers plan to obtain documents and materials related to the operation and maintenance of the aircraft, as well as the operation of airport facilities.
The Jeju 737-800 burst into flames in Muan, South Korea, on Sunday after skidding off the runway and crashing into a structure, killing all but two onboard.
The news comes hours after accident investigators announced they had extracted data from one of the two black boxes, while a second, the flight data recorder, was being sent to the US for analysis.
“The damaged flight data recorder has been deemed unrecoverable for data extraction domestically,” said Deputy Transport Minister Joo Jong-wan.
“It was agreed today to transport it to the United States for analysis in collaboration with the US National Transportation Safety Board.”
Meanwhile, the country’s acting president, Choi Sang-mok, said investigators would conduct a fair and objective investigation into the incident and revealed funeral procedures had already begun following the identification of all 179 victims. So far, just 43 bodies have been released.
“The most urgent matter at present is to return the victims to their families,” he said.
Airport authorities have also set up a temporary altar and organised buses for victims’ relatives to pay their respects at the crash site.
However, days after the incident, confusion still surrounds the crash’s primary cause despite footage showing an apparent bird strike.
Critics have argued that damage to the engine would have been unlikely to prevent the landing gear or flaps from lowering, which would have slowed down the aircraft on the runway.
David Learmount, a former RAF instructor, described the placement of the structure into which the aircraft crashed 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.
