South Korea’s acting President Choi Sang-mok has ordered an emergency safety inspection of the country’s entire airline operation system as investigators worked to identify victims and find out what caused the country’s deadliest air disaster, Reuters reported on Monday.
All 175 passengers and four of the six crew were killed when a Jeju Air (089590.KS), Boeing 737-800 belly-landed and skidded off the end of the runway at Muan International Airport, erupting in a fireball as it slammed into a wall. Two crew members were pulled out alive.
The top priority for now is identifying the victims, supporting their families and treating the two survivors, Choi told a disaster management meeting in Seoul.
“Even before the final results are out, we ask that officials transparently disclose the accident investigation process and promptly inform the bereaved families,” he said.
“As soon as the accident recovery is conducted, the transport ministry is requested to conduct an emergency safety inspection of the entire aircraft operation system to prevent recurrence of aircraft accidents,” he said.
The transport ministry said authorities were considering whether to conduct a special inspection of all 101 Boeing 737-800 aircraft operated by South Korean airliners.
Jeju Air flight 7C2216, arriving from the Thai capital Bangkok, was trying to land shortly after 9 a.m. (0000 GMT) on Sunday at the airport in the south of the country.
Investigators are examining bird strikes and weather conditions as possible factors in the crash, fire officials have said.
Experts say many questions remain, including why the plane, powered by two CFM 56-7B26 engines, appeared to be travelling so fast and why its landing gear did not appear to be down when it skidded down the runway and into a wall.
