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The wreckage of a Boeing 737-800 of the South Korean airline Jeju Air lies at Muan International Airport. Photo: Ahn Young-joon/AP/dpa
Keystone
Following the fatal plane crash in South Korea, the police have searched Muan Airport. The office of the low-cost airline Jeju Air was also affected, reported the Yonhap news agency, citing officials. The search warrant was based on allegations of negligence resulting in death.
The Jeju Air Boeing 737-800 landed on its fuselage at the airport in south-western South Korea on Sunday without its landing gear deployed, skidded across the runway and crashed into a wall. 179 of the 181 occupants were killed. Two crew members survived.
Immediately before the crash landing, the pilots had reported a collision with birds, which the tower in Muan had warned about shortly beforehand. It is unclear how the bird strike could be connected to the malfunction of the landing gear. The plane had arrived from Bangkok, Thailand. Apart from two Thais, there were only Koreans on board.
Investigators from the USA also on site
In addition to Korean experts, representatives of a US authority and the US aircraft manufacturer Boeing are currently investigating at the scene of the accident. Both flight recorders have already been recovered and the data from the voice recorder in the cockpit has been transmitted. The second flight recorder was damaged in the accident and will be examined further in the USA.
The wall at the end of the runway, against which the plane crashed and burst into flames, also came under scrutiny. According to some experts, the concrete structure around the antenna system, which supports pilots during landing, was not necessary and may have exacerbated the extent of the disaster. Following the accident, South Korea also launched an investigation among its domestic airlines into aircraft of the same type.
02.01.2025, 07:51
