Blitz Bureau
SOUTH Korea’s acting President Choi Sang-mok has ordered an emergency safety inspection of the country’s entire airline operation system as investigators worked to find out what caused the deadliest air disaster in the country. All 175 passengers and four of the six crew were killed when a Jeju Air flight belly-landed and skidded off the end of the runway at Muan International Airport, erupting in a fireball as it slammed into a wall. Two crew members were pulled out alive, according to Reuters. The remains of 174 of the 179 people killed have tentatively been identified, the Land Ministry said on December 31.
Meanwhile, a team of investigators from the US Government and aircraft manufacturer Boeing Co. have arrived at the crash site to participate in the investigation into the incident.
As a first step, the transport ministry announced plans to conduct a special inspection of all 101 Boeing 737-800 aircraft operated by South Korean airliners beginning, focusing on the maintenance record of key components.
Jeju Air flight 7C2216, arriving from the Thai capital Bangkok, was trying to land shortly after 9 a.m. (0000 GMT) on December 29 at the airport in the south of the country.
Investigators are examining bird strikes, whether any of the aircraft’s control systems were disabled, and the apparent rush by the pilots to attempt a landing soon after declaring an emergency as possible factors in the crash, fire and transportation officials have said.
