After the devastating plane crash in South Korea, 174 of the 179 deaths have been identified. Authorities had already returned the first bodies to their families, it said on Tuesday. Only two crew members survived the emergency landing on Sunday.
As reported, a Boeing from South Korean budget airline Jeju Air landed in Muan on Sunday morning (local time) without deploying its landing gear and sliding off the runway. The machine crashed into a wall and caught fire. Authorities suspect the cause of the accident was a bird strike shortly before landing (see video above). However, it is still unclear how the collision with birds could damage the chassis.
The current focus is on a wall located approximately 250 meters behind the affected runway. Experts assume that the construction does not meet international standards. An antenna system has been installed there, which is necessary for landing. The concrete wall around it did not need to be built, according to a pilot. The Ministry of Transport said other airports in South Korea had a similar concrete structure. The airport said an increase was necessary for the system to work.
Track closed
To further investigate the accident scene, the runway at Muan Airport was initially closed until January 7. Korean experts as well as representatives of the American aircraft manufacturer Boeing and the American authority NTSB are on site. Among other things, the maintenance records of all national airlines of the Boeing 737-800 type and the two flight recorders of the accident machine are checked. Because the flight recorder containing the data is damaged, it will likely take some time before the results are available.
It is the most devastating plane crash on South Korean soil to date. 179 people were killed. Most of them had South Korean citizenship, two had Thai citizenship.
Source: Krone
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