South Korea launches 'comprehensive' aircraft inspection after Jeju Air crash
Harry KembleSouth Korea has launched a "comprehensive inspection" of all Boeing 737-800 aircraft operated by the country’s airlines after a plane crash killed 179 people on Sunday (29 December).
All 175 passengers and four crew on the Jeju Air flight died when one of its planes crash-landed at Muan international airport in South Korea. Two crew members were pulled from the wreckage alive.
The flight had 181 people on board, including six crew members, and was arriving from Bangkok, Thailand, when the devastating incident occurred.
Joo Jong-wan, the country’s deputy minister for civil aviation, confirmed 101 aircraft, operated by six South Korean airlines using the same model as the plane that crashed on Sunday, will be “thoroughly reviewed”, the BBC reports.
According to The Guardian, a landing gear malfunction is among the issues being targeted by the investigation into Sunday’s crash, which occurred after the plane skidded along the runway.
It is understood the inspection will last until 3 January and US investigators will help South Korea’s aviation authority with its investigation.
Hundreds of family members are camping out at Muan international airport while they wait for answers and to see bodies of their loved ones.
The country’s president Yoon Suk Yeol, who has been suspended after he declared martial law at the start of December, offered “deep condolences” to the families of those who died in the plane crash.
South Korea’s acting president, Choi Sang-mok, ordered the safety inspection of the country’s airline operation system. He was appointed president two days before the disaster.
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