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The death toll from what was South Korea’s deadliest plane crash in decades rose to 179 on Monday, a day after the disaster already hit the nation. in intense political turmoil.
The United States is now sending investigators to help determine what caused the Jeju Air plane to crash at Muan airport and crash into a concrete barrier on Sunday.
Meanwhile, south korean officials More than 600 body parts are being combed and the stench of blood remains in the air at the crash site, the Daily Mail reported.
So far 141 bodies have been identified. The youngest passenger was 3 years old and the oldest was 78, the BBC reported.
South Korea’s acting president Choi Sang-mok, wearing a green jacket, visits the site of an airplane fire at Muan International Airport in Muan, South Korea, Monday, Dec. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
The plane had 181 people on board, and only two lone survivors, identified as Lee, 32, and Kwon, 25, both flight attendants, were pulled alive from the tail of the burning plane.
Doctors at Mokpo Korean Hospital reportedly described how Lee, who suffered a fractured left shoulder and head injuries but remained conscious, repeatedly asked them “What happened?” and “Why am I here?”
“It seems she was almost in a state of panic, possibly worried about the safety of the plane and the passengers,” a hospital official told the Korean Times.
Kwon, who is being treated at Mokpo Central Hospital, suffered a scalp laceration, a broken ankle and abdominal pain, according to the report. He also had no immediate memory of the accident.
“Although his life is not in danger, the trauma and injuries are significant,” another hospital said, according to the Korean Times.
South Korea’s Transportation Ministry said Monday it plans to conduct safety inspections of all 101 Boeing 737-800 planes operated by the country’s airlines, as well as a broader review of safety standards at Jeju Air, which operates 39 of those planes. A senior ministry official, Joo Jong-wan, said representatives from the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board and Boeing were expected to arrive in South Korea on Monday to take part in the investigation.
“The NTSB is leading a team of U.S. investigators (NTSB, Boeing, and FAA) to assist the Republic of Korea’s Aviation and Railroad Accident Investigation Board (ARAIB) with its investigation of the Dec. 29 Jeju air crash. at Muan International Airport in Muan, Republic of Korea,” the NTSB Newsroom account wrote in X.
Ministry officials also said they will investigate whether Muan airport’s localizer – a concrete fence that houses an array of antennas designed to guide planes safely during landings – should have been made from lighter materials that would break. more easily in case of impact.
Joo said the ministry has determined that there are similar concrete structures at other domestic airports, including on Jeju Island and the southern cities of Yeosu and Pohang, as well as airports in the United States, Spain and South Africa.
Sunday’s crash, the country’s worst air disaster in decades, sparked widespread national solidarity. Many people are concerned about how effectively the South Korean government will handle the disaster as it grapples with a leadership vacuum following recent successive dismissals of President Yoon Suk Yeol and Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, the country’s two top officials, amid the political tumult caused by Yoon’s brief imposition of martial law earlier this month.
The new acting president, Choi Sang-mok, chaired a working group meeting on the accident on Monday and instructed authorities to conduct an emergency review of the country’s aircraft operating systems.
“The essence of a responsible response would be to revamp overall aviation safety systems to prevent similar incidents from recurring and build a safer Republic of South Korea,” said Choi, who is also vice prime minister and finance minister. according to the Associated Press.
A police officer works with a dog outside Muan International Airport in Muan, South Korea, Monday, Dec. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
The Boeing 737-800 aircraft operated by South Korean airline Jeju Air aborted its first landing attempt for reasons that are not immediately clear. Then, during his second landing attempt, he received a bird strike warning from the ground control center before his pilot issued a distress signal. The plane landed without the front landing gear deployed, skidded off the runway, crashed into a concrete fence and exploded in a fireball.
The Transportation Ministry said authorities have identified 146 bodies and are collecting DNA samples and fingerprints from the other 33, according to the AP.
Park Han Shin, a representative of the bereaved families, said they were told the bodies were so damaged that officials need time before returning them to their families.
“I demand that the government mobilize more personnel to return our brothers and relatives as intact as possible and as quickly as possible,” he said through tears.
Earlier Monday, another Boeing 737-800 aircraft operated by Jeju Air returned to Seoul Gimpo International Airport shortly after takeoff when the pilot detected a landing gear problem. Song Kyung-hoon, an executive at Jeju Air, said the issue was resolved by communicating with a ground equipment center, but the pilot decided to return to Gimpo as a precaution.
South Korea’s national flags fly at half-mast at the government complex in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Dec. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
Joo said officials were checking whether there may have been communication problems between air traffic controllers and the pilot.
“Our current understanding is that, at some point during the round-trip process, communication became somewhat ineffective or was interrupted, prior to landing and impact,” he said.
Ministry officials said Monday that the plane’s flight data and cockpit audio recorders were moved to a research center at Gimpo airport before analysis. Ministry officials previously said it would take months to complete the accident investigation.
The Muan crash is the deadliest aviation disaster in South Korea since 1997, when a Korean Airlines plane crashed in Guam, killing 228 people on board.
The accident left many South Koreans shocked and embarrassed, and the government announced a seven-day suspension. national mourning period until January 4. Some questioned whether the accident involved regulatory or safety issues, such as a 2022 Halloween crush in Seoul that killed 160 people and the 2014 ferry sinking that killed 304 people.
Video of the accident indicated that the pilots did not deploy flaps or slats to brake the aircraft, suggesting a possible hydraulic failure, and did not manually lower the landing gear, suggesting they did not have time, John Cox, retired pilot and director airline executive. of Security Operating Systems in St. Petersburg, Florida, told the AP.
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Despite that, the plane was under control and traveling in a straight line, and damage and injuries likely would have been minimized if not for the barrier being so close to the runway, Cox said. Other observers said videos showed the plane suffering from a suspected engine problem, but landing gear malfunctions were likely a direct reason for the crash. They told the AP there would likely be no link between the landing gear problem and the suspected engine problem.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
