By Hyung-Jin Kim and Kim Tong-Hyung | Related Press
SEOUL, South Korea — South Korean officers are struggling to find out what precipitated a lethal aircraft crash that killed 179 individuals, with the nation saddened, shocked and ashamed over the nation’s worst aviation catastrophe in a long time.
Many observers additionally fear how successfully the South Korean authorities will deal with the aftermath of Sunday’s crash because it grapples with a management vacuum following the latest successive impeachments of President Yoon Suk Yeol and Prime Minster Han Duck-soo, the nation’s high two officers, amid political tumult attributable to Yoon’s temporary martial regulation introduction earlier this month.
New Appearing President Choi Sang-mok on Monday presided over a job pressure assembly on the crash and instructed the Transport Ministry and police to launch investigations into its trigger. He additionally ordered the ministry to implement an emergency evaluate of the nation’s general plane operation methods.
“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,” stated Choi, who can be deputy prime minister and finance minister.
The Boeing 737-800 aircraft operated by South Korea’s finances airline Jeju Air skidded off a runway at Muan Worldwide Airport within the nation’s south, slammed right into a concrete fence and burst right into a fireball. The incident killed all however two of the 181 individuals aboard. The 2 survivors are each crew members, and so they had been pulled from the aircraft’s tail part — the one half that was nonetheless recognizable after the crash.
Joo Jong-wan, the Transport Ministry’s director of aviation coverage, stated authorities have to this point recognized 141 of the our bodies, and are conducting DNA checks on the opposite 38.
Alan Worth, a former chief pilot at Delta Air Traces and now a marketing consultant, stated the Boeing 737-800 is a “proven airplane” that belongs to a distinct class of plane than the Boeing 737 Max jetliner that was linked to deadly crashes in 2018 and 2019.
However the Transport Ministry stated Monday the federal government plans to conduct security inspections on all Boeing 737-800 jetliners operated by the nation’s airways.
Ministry officers stated they may also look into whether or not the Muan airport’s localizer — a concrete fence housing a set of antennas designed to information plane safely throughout landings — ought to have been made with lighter supplies that will break extra simply upon influence.
Video of the crash indicated that the pilots didn’t deploy flaps or slats to sluggish the plane, suggesting a doable hydraulic failure, and they didn’t manually decrease the touchdown gear, suggesting they didn’t have time, stated John Cox, a retired airline pilot and CEO of Security Working Programs in St. Petersburg, Florida.
Regardless of that, the jetliner was underneath management and touring in a straight line, and injury and accidents probably would have been minimized if not for a barrier being so near the runway, Cox stated.
Different observers say the movies confirmed the aircraft struggling suspected engine hassle however the touchdown gear malfunction was probably a direct motive for the crash. They are saying there wouldn’t probably be a hyperlink between the touchdown gear issues and the suspected engine drawback.
The Transport Ministry stated Sunday the management tower issued a warning about birds to the Jeju Air aircraft shortly earlier than it supposed to land and gave the crew permission to land in a distinct space. It stated the aircraft’s pilot despatched out a misery sign shortly earlier than the crash.
Investigators retrieved the jet’s flight knowledge and cockpit voice recorders, however it might take months to finish the probe into the crash, Joo, the Transport Ministry official, informed reporters.
The Muan crash is South Korea’s deadliest aviation catastrophe since 1997, when a Korean Airways aircraft crashed in Guam, killing 228 individuals on board.
Sunday’s crash precipitated an outpouring of public sympathy for the lifeless, with the federal government issuing a seven-day nationwide mourning interval. Some questioned if the crash concerned security or regulatory points, just like the 2022 Halloween crush that killed 160 individuals and the 2014 ferry sinking that killed 304 individuals.
The political tumult resulted within the opposition-controlled Nationwide Meeting impeaching Yoon and Han. The protection minister stepped down and the police chief was arrested over their roles within the martial regulation enhancement.
The absence of high officers answerable for managing disasters has additionally led to issues.
Initially Printed: December 29, 2024 at 9:57 PM PST
