Mourners pay their respects at a memorial altar for victims of the Jeju Air plane crash, at Muan Sports Park in Muan on December 30, 2024. Jung Yeon-je, AFP

Mourners pay their respects at a memorial altar for victims of the Jeju Air plane crash, at Muan Sports Park in Muan on December 30, 2024. - The Boeing 737-800 was carrying 181 people from Thailand to South Korea when it crashed on arrival on December 29, killing everyone aboard -- save two flight attendants pulled from the twisted wreckage of the worst aviation disaster on South Korean soil. (Photo by JUNG YEON-JE / AFP)

Jeju Air plane crash

Agence France-Presse

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1735538234196AFP__20241230__36RP6EZ__v1__Preview__SkoreaAviationAccident.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="Mourners pay their respects at a memorial altar for victims of the Jeju Air plane crash, at Muan Sports Park in Muan on December 30, 2024. Jung Yeon-je, AFP"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Mourners pay their respects at a memorial altar for victims of the Jeju Air plane crash, at Muan Sports Park in Muan on December 30, 2024. <em>Jung Yeon-je, AFP</em></span></span></span></div><p>MUAN, South Korea -- Flags flew at half-mast on Monday as South Korea mourned 179 people killed in the worst plane crash on its soil, as investigators probe why the Jeju Air plane crash-landed and burst into flames.</p><p>The country has started seven days of national mourning, with the acting president flying to the crash site in southwestern Muan for a memorial as teams of US and South Korean investigators raced to establish what caused Sunday&#x27;s disaster.</p><p>The Boeing 737-800 was carrying 181 people from Thailand to South Korea when it made a mayday call and belly-landing before crashing into a barrier and bursting into flames.</p><p>Everyone on board Jeju Air Flight 2216 was killed, save two flight attendants pulled from the wreckage.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2024/12/29/179-dead-in-south-korea-s-worst-plane-crash-2259">READ: 179 dead in South Korea&#x27;s worst plane crash</a></div><p>Officials initially cited a bird strike as a likely cause of the crash, which flung passengers from the plane and left it &quot;almost completely destroyed&quot;, according to fire officials.</p><p>However, Seoul said on Monday it would conduct a special inspection of all 101 Boeing 737-800s in operation in the country, with US investigators, possibly including from the beleaguered plane manufacturer Boeing, joining the probe into the crash.</p><p>&quot;We are reviewing plans to conduct a special inspection on B737-800 aircraft,&quot; said Joo Jong-wan, head of the aviation policy bureau at South Korea&#x27;s transport ministry.</p><p>South Korea has a solid air safety record and both black boxes from Flight 2216 -- the flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder -- have been found.</p><p>South Korean investigators said Monday that 141 of the 179 victims had now been identified using DNA analysis or fingerprint collection, according to a statement from South Korea&#x27;s ministry of land.</p><p>Victims&#x27; families camped out at the airport overnight in special tents set up in the airport lounge after a long, painful day waiting for news of their loved ones.</p><p>&quot;I had a son on board that plane,&quot; said an elderly man waiting in the airport lounge, who asked not to be named, saying that his son&#x27;s body had not yet been identified.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2024/12/29/witness-recalls-plane-crash-that-killed-179-in-south-korea-0036">READ: Witness recalls plane crash that killed 179 in South Korea</a></div><div><strong>- Memorial -</strong></div><script data-wid="auto" type="text/javascript" src="https://content.viralize.tv/display/?zid=AAEyze-tm4MR6kEa&amp;cid=ABSZ9n_CrGR3BvWj&amp;activation=click&amp;vip_mode=playing&amp;vip_position=bottom-right"></script><p>At the crash site early Monday, a middle-aged man and woman kept their gaze fixed through the fence, where remnants of the plane -- seats, gates, and twisted metal parts -- were still scattered across the field near the charred tail.</p><p>The smell of blood was still in the air.</p><p>Soldiers carefully combed through a field of reeds next to the runway, engaged in what appeared to be a search for body parts.</p><p>South Korea&#x27;s acting president, Choi Sang-mok, who has only been in office since Friday, said the government was making &quot;every effort&quot; to identify victims and support bereaved families.</p><p>Choi, an unelected bureaucrat who became acting president after his two predecessors were impeached, said on Monday a &quot;thorough investigation into the cause of the accident&quot; would be conducted.</p><p>He also said South Korea would conduct &quot;an urgent safety inspection of the overall aircraft operation system&quot; to prevent future aviation disasters.</p><p>The passengers, aged from three to 78, were all Korean apart from two Thais, authorities said.</p><p>Low-cost carrier Jeju Air said it &quot;sincerely&quot; apologized, with top officials shown bowing deeply at a news conference in Seoul.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2024/12/29/families-of-jeju-air-plane-crash-passengers-informed-of-victim-list-ceo-apologises-1720">READ: Families of Jeju air plane crash passengers informed of victim list, CEO apologises</a></div><div><strong>- Criticism grows -</strong></div><script data-wid="auto" type="text/javascript" src="https://content.viralize.tv/display/?zid=AAEyze-tm4MR6kEa&amp;cid=ABSZbJqZpLYFGcDy&amp;activation=click&amp;vip_mode=playing&amp;vip_position=bottom-right"></script><p>Another Jeju Airlines flight using the same model aircraft experienced a malfunction linked to the landing gear and was forced to return to Seoul&#x27;s Gimpo airport shortly after takeoff, the Yonhap News Agency reported.</p><p>&quot;We are aware of the return incident and looking into the cause,&quot; a Jeju Air representative told AFP.</p><p>&quot;We can&#x27;t say at this moment it was related to landing gear malfunction pending an investigation.&quot;</p><p>Officials have pointed to a bird strike -- a warning was issued by the control tower minutes before the crash -- as a likely factor in Sunday&#x27;s crash.</p><p>However, a growing chorus of criticism from experts analysing dramatic video footage of Flight 2216&#x27;s landing has focused on whether airport construction could have played a part.</p><p>Kim Kwang-il, Professor of Aeronautical Science at Silla University and a former pilot, said he was &quot;quite upset&quot; when he reviewed a video showing the plane making a skilled emergency landing but then hitting a wall.</p><p>&quot;There shouldn&#x27;t have been a solid structure in that area at all,&quot; he told AFP.</p><p>&quot;Normally, at the end of a runway, there&#x27;s no such solid obstruction -- it&#x27;s against international aviation safety standards,&quot; he said.</p><p>&quot;The structure in question caused the aircraft to crash and catch fire.&quot;</p><p>&quot;Outside the airport, there are usually just fences, which are soft and wouldn&#x27;t cause significant damage. The plane could have skidded further and stopped naturally. The unnecessary structure is highly regrettable.&quot;</p><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong></div>

<p>Flags flew at half-mast on Monday as South Korea mourned 179 people killed in the worst plane crash on its soil, as investigators probe why the Jeju Air plane crash-landed and burst into flames.</p>

Flags flew at half-mast on Monday as South Korea mourned 179 people killed in the worst plane crash on its soil, as investigators probe why the Jeju Air plane crash-landed and burst into flames.

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Flags fly at half-mast as South Korea probes its worst plane crash

Flags fly at half-mast as South Korea probes its worst plane crash

Agence France-Presse,

Kang Jin-kyu with Hieun Shin in Seoul

Published Dec 30, 2024 02:22 PM PHT

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