South Korea plane crash latest: Grieving families camp out at airport as experts doubt bird strike theory
Jeju Air’s passenger plane smashed into a concrete wall after an emergency landing at Muan international airport in South Korea
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Your support makes all the difference.Families of the 179 people killed in the Jeju Air disaster have been camping out at the airport as they demand answers over the deadliest crash in South Korea’s history.
Hundreds of family members are still camped out at the Muan International Airport to see the bodies of their loved ones.
Some, who have lost generations in the crash, jostled and argued with officials, angry that they’ve still not been able to see the bodies.
One official told the crowds they are unable to view the deceased as their bodies were “very badly damaged”, according to the BBC.
Authorities have confirmed that all 175 passengers, as well as four of the six crew, were killed in the incident. The only two survivors were crew sitting at the back of the plane at the time of the crash.
Experts said it seemed unlikely a bird strike would have been the sole cause of the landing gear malfunctioning.
Australian airline safety expert Geoffrey Dell said: “I’ve never seen a bird strike prevent the landing gear from being extended.”
South Korea plane crash: Everything we know about country’s worst domestic air disaster
Distraught families want answers after 179 people die in South Korea’s deadliest domestic air disaster
Jeju Air CEO bows in apology after South Korea deadly plane crash
Moment South Korea plane skids along runway before fiery crash
Investigators to probe materials of concrete fence
New acting president Choi Sang-mok on Monday presided over a task force meeting on the crash and instructed authorities to conduct an emergency review of the country’s aircraft operation systems.
“The essence of a responsible response would be renovating the aviation safety systems on the whole to prevent recurrences of similar incidents and building a safer Republic of South Korea,” said Mr Choi, who is also deputy prime minister and finance minister.
Ministry officials said they will look into whether a concrete fence at Muan Airport housing a set of antennas designed to guide aircraft safely during landings should have been made with lighter materials that would break more easily upon impact.
Video of the crash indicated that the pilots did not deploy flaps or slats to slow the aircraft, suggesting a possible hydraulic failure, and did not manually lower the landing gear, suggesting they did not have time, said John Cox, a retired airline pilot and chief executive of Safety Operating Systems in St Petersburg, Florida.
Despite that, the jet was under control and travelling in a straight line, and damage and injuries likely would have been minimised if not for the barrier being so close to the runway, Mr Cox said.
Thai family grieves daughter’s death in crash: ‘My daughter won’t come back’
A family in northeastern Thailand are mourning the loss of Jongluk Duangmanee, one of two Thai nationals of the Jeju Air crash, and wish to bring her body home for a religious ceremony.
All 175 passengers and four of the six crew were killed when the Boeing 737-800 crash-landed and skidded off the end of the runway at South Korea’s Muan International Airport yesterday.
Boonchuay Duangmanee, 77, said he must come to terms with his 45-year-old daughter’s sudden death.“I can only accept it, make peace with it,” he told state broadcaster Thai PBS.
“No matter what I do, my daughter won’t come back.”He had felt a “sense of unease” when neighbours told him of the Jeju Air crash, he added, as his daughter often travelled with the airline.
Jongluk, the third youngest in the family, had been working in South Korea for seven years and would visit her home in Udon Thani, about 500km north of the Thai capital, every year.
In pics: Rescuers comb Jeju Air plane crash site on Monday
Another Jeju Air flight faces similar landing gear issue - report
A Jeju Air aircraft that departed from Gimpo Airport in Seoul for Jeju today experienced an unidentified landing-gear issue after take-off and returned to Gimpo, Yonhap news agency reported.
The aircraft landed safely at the Gimpo airport, it added.
The airline informed its 161 passengers on board about the mechanical defect caused by the landing gear issue and subsequently returned the flight around 7.25am (local time).
This comes a day after a Jeju Air flight crashed at the Muan international airport yesterday, killing all 175 passengers along with four crew members
South Korea plans to inspect Boeing 737-800 jetliners
South Korea’s transport ministry today said the government plans to conduct safety inspections on all Boeing 737-800 jetliners operated by the country’s airlines.
The Boeing 737-800 plane operated by South Korea’s budget airline Jeju Air skidded off a runway at Muan International Airport in the country’s south, slammed into a concrete fence and burst into a fireball yesterday. The incident killed all but two of the 181 people aboard.
Acting president Choi Sang Mok presided over a task force meeting on the crash and instructed the Transport Ministry and police to launch investigations into its cause. He also ordered the ministry to implement an emergency review of the country’s overall aircraft operation systems.
Families camp out at airport demanding answers
Aid materials are arriving in the area set up for family members arriving at the airport to identify the victims.
They have set up rows of booths handing out ramen, water, fruits and tissues, according to the BBC.
The crash killed mostly local residents who were returning from holidays in Thailand, while two Thai nationals also died.
“I can only accept it, make peace with it,” said Boonchuay Duangmanee, 77, the father of one of the Thai victims. “When I think about it, I remind myself that it was an accident. It’s something that can happen to anyone. So, we’ve come to terms with it because no matter what I do, my daughter won’t come back.”
On Monday morning, investigators were trying to identify some of the more than two dozen remaining victims, as anguished families waited inside the Muan airport terminal.
Park Han-shin, who lost his brother in the crash, said he was told by authorities that his brother had been identified but has not been able to see his body.
Park called on other victims’ families to unite in responding to the disaster and recovery efforts, citing a 2014 ferry sinking that killed more than 300 people. Many relatives of the victims of the Sewol ferry disaster complained it took authorities too long to identify those killed and the cause of that accident.
Jeju Air CEO bows in apology after South Korea deadly plane crash
Jeju Air’s CEO bowed in apology after one of his airline’s passenger planes crashed and burst into flames at an airport in South Korea.
At a news conference in Gimpo, Kim E-bae issued a “sincere apology and condolences to those who have lost their lives in the accident and their families.”
Jeju Air CEO bows in apology after South Korea deadly plane crash
Jeju Air’s CEO bowed in apology after one of his airline’s passenger planes crashed and burst into flames at an airport in South Korea, on Sunday, 29 December. At least 177 people have been declared dead after the Boeing 737-800 plane skidded off the runway at Muan airport. Two surviving crew members have been rescued. At a news conference in Gimpo, Kim E-bae issued a “sincere apology and condolences to those who have lost their lives in the accident and their families.” The crash was one of the deadliest disasters in South Korea’s aviation history.
More than 140 victims identified
At least 141 victims of the Jeju Air plane crash have been identified so far, South Korea’s land ministry said today, according to Yonhap news agency.
The ministry said all the 179 bodies have been moved to a temporary morgue and families of the victims will be contacted following autopsies.
“Once we are ready to transfer the bodies following autopsies by investigation agencies, we will contact the families,” an official said.
Distraught families want answers after 179 people die
Grieving families screamed and wept at a South Korean airport as the names of the dead were confirmed after a plane carrying 181 people crashed, killing all but two on board, in the worst domestic aviation disaster in the country’s history.
An investigation has been launched, with a bird strike collision among the contributory factors being considered for the crash. Preliminary reports also suggest the plane’s front landing gear failed to deploy.
Among the dead were three generations of the same family, with a man in his sixties telling Korean Yonhap news agency that his sister-in-law, daughter, her husband and their young children were tragically on board.
More here.
Families want answers after South Korea’s deadliest domestic air disaster
South Korea’s president declares a seven-day national mourning period as officials begin investigation into what happened on the Boeing 737-800
King Charles and Queen ‘profoundly saddened’ by crash
The King has paid tribute to the victims of a plane crash in South Korea which claimed the lives of 179 people.
“My wife and I were profoundly saddened to learn of the horrific air accident at Muan, which resulted in such grievous loss of life,” the King said in a statement.
“As the people of the Republic of Korea mourn this disaster, the families and loved ones of all the victims are in our prayers.”
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