What Air Safety Probe South Korea orders After Worst Crash in Country Kills 179?

As investigators attempted to identify victims and determine the cause of the nation’s deadliest flying catastrophe, South Korea’s acting president, Choi Sang-mok on Monday ordered an emergency safety examination of the whole airline operation system. Four of the six crew members and all 175 passengers died when Jeju Air at Muan International Airport, Boeing’s new 737-800 belly landed and skidded off the end of the runway slamming into a wall and exploding in a blaze. They managed to take out two crew members alive.

Authorities were debating whether to perform a special inspection of all 101 Boeing 737-800 aircraft flown by South Korean airlines according to the ministry of transportation. Shortly after 9 a.m on Sunday, Jeju Air aircraft 7C2216 which was traveling from Bangkok, the capital of Thailand was attempting to touch down at the southern airport.

According to fire officials, investigators are looking at weather and bird strikes as potential causes of the crash. Experts believe there are still a lot of unanswered concerns such as why the aircraft which was propelled by two CFM 56-7B26 engines seemed to be moving so quickly and why as it skidded down the runway and struck a wall, its landing gear did not appear to be down.

GE Aerospace opens a new tab and Safran of France, have partnered to become CFM International. According to officials from the transport ministry, the pilots informed air traffic control that the aircraft had been struck by birds during their planned approach on Monday. Shortly after the control tower alerted them to the presence of birds nearby, the pilots reported the incident.

The pilots then signaled that they were going to abandon their landing attempt and try again after issuing a mayday notice. The plane made a belly landing shortly after touching down roughly 1,200 meters down the 2,800-meter runway before rolling into a building near the end.

According to transport ministry officials at a media conference, investigators are looking into the role of the localizer antenna which was placed near the end of the runway to aid in landing as well as the embankment it was situated on in the collision.

All of the nation’s international and regional airports including the main Incheon International Airport were functioning according to schedule although Muan International Airport remained closed until Wednesday. On Monday, Jeju Air’s stock fell as much as 15.7% reaching its lowest point ever. 

People including acting President Choi gathered to pay their respects at a sizable memorial that was erected in a county gym some 9 kilometers (5 miles) from the crash site.

Choi, who is in charge of the investigation and recovery efforts took over as interim leader three days ago after the country’s prime minister and president were impeached for imposing a brief martial law.