South Korean police raided the places of work of Jeju Air and the operator of Muan Worldwide Airport Thursday as they step up a probe into the deadly crash of a Boeing 737-800 that killed 179 individuals.
The flight was carrying 181 passengers and crew from Thailand to South Korea on Sunday when it issued a mayday name and belly-landed earlier than slamming right into a barrier, killing all aboard besides two flight attendants.
Authorities on Thursday carried out search and seizure operations at Muan airport the place flight 2216 crashed, a regional aviation workplace within the southwestern metropolis, and Jeju Air’s workplace within the capital Seoul, police stated.
Jeju Air’s chief government Kim E-bae has additionally been banned from leaving the nation because the investigation continues, police stated individually.
“The police plan to swiftly and rigorously decide the trigger and duty for this accident in accordance with the regulation and ideas,” police stated in an announcement despatched to AFP.
At Muan airport Thursday, troopers, police and white-suited investigators have been nonetheless combing the crash web site, as orange-robed monks held prayer ceremonies close by.
Contained in the airport, the steps have been lined in vibrant post-it notes left by mourners.
“Honey, I miss you approach an excessive amount of,” one among them stated.
“Even for those who confronted lonely and painful moments in demise, could you now soar like a butterfly,” one other learn.
Kim Hong-Ji / REUTERS
Family members additionally left flowers and meals close to the crash web site together with tteokguk — rice cake soup historically loved in South Korea on New 12 months’s Day — as they stated their goodbyes, many in tears.
Star cooks featured in Netflix’s megahit cooking competitors present “Culinary Class Wars”, together with Ahn Yu-seong, joined volunteers in Muan this week to organize meals for the victims’ households.
And folks nationwide have been remotely pre-paying for espresso on the airport’s cafe in order that victims’ households, who’ve been camped out within the lounge since Sunday, ready for information, might drink without spending a dime.
Extra our bodies have been launched Thursday to households to organize for funerals, the land ministry stated.
Officers initially pointed to a hen strike as a potential reason behind the crash, and have since stated the probe was additionally analyzing the position of a concrete barrier on the finish of the runway.
Dramatic video confirmed the airplane colliding with it earlier than bursting into flames.
Yonhap reported the Muan airport warrant was accredited on fees {of professional} negligence leading to demise, citing officers.
“Police are securing proof associated to the legitimacy of the airport’s localizer,” Yonhap stated, referring to the concrete wall on the finish of the runway housing an antenna array.
They’re additionally in search of communication information between the management tower and the pilot shortly earlier than the airplane crash, it added.
Airports nationwide have been being inspected to test different related localizers, the land ministry stated in an announcement.
Some specialists have steered that the catastrophe could have been much less lethal if the set up not been concrete.
“Key to unlocking this thriller”
South Korea has additionally introduced it’ll examine all Boeing 737-800 plane operated by its carriers, specializing in the touchdown gear, which seems to have malfunctioned through the Sunday crash.
South Korea’s appearing president, Choi Sang-mok, stated Thursday that “speedy motion” should be taken if that probe uncovered any points with the plane mannequin.
Authorities have beforehand stated 101 plane of the identical mannequin have been in operation by six completely different airways.
“As there’s nice public concern about the identical plane mannequin concerned within the accident, the transport ministry and related companies should conduct an intensive inspection of operation upkeep, training, and coaching,” Choi stated Thursday.
The accident is the worst aviation catastrophe on South Korean soil.
Kim Hong-Ji / REUTERS
South Korean authorities have accomplished the preliminary extraction of information for the cockpit voice recorder, however the flight knowledge recorder was broken and was to be despatched to the USA for evaluation, officers stated Wednesday.
Investigators say it was not possible to regionally decode the broken flight knowledge recorder, which is lacking a vital connector, BBC Information reported.
“I feel the cockpit voice recorder, in the event that they’re in a position to learn that out, that might be key to unlocking this thriller,” Robert Sumwalt, former chair of the NTSB, informed CBS Information.
Jeju Air stated the crash was not attributable to “any upkeep points,” based on South Korea’s Yonhap information company, and aviation skilled Geoffrey Thomas informed BBC Information that South Korea’s airways have been broadly deemed to comply with “trade finest follow” and that each the airplane and Jeju Air had an “glorious security document.”
