By Ju-min Park and Hongji Kim
MUAN COUNTY, South Korea (Reuters) – South Korea's acting president Choi Sang-mok on Monday ordered an emergency safety inspection of the country's entire aviation system as investigators try to identify victims and determine what caused the country's deadly air disaster.
All 175 passengers and four of six crew members were killed when a Jeju Air Boeing (NYSE: ) 737-800 belly-landed and skidded off the end of the runway at Muan International Airport, exploding in a fireball as it hits the wall. Two crew members were rescued alive.
The priority now is to identify the victims, support their families and treat the two survivors, Choi told a disaster management meeting in Seoul.
“Even before the final results are out, we request that the officials make the accident investigation process transparent and immediately inform the bereaved families,” he said.
“Immediately after the investigation of the accident, the transport department is requested to carry out an urgent safety inspection of the entire flight system to prevent the recurrence of flight accidents,” he said.
The transport minister said authorities are considering conducting a special inspection of 101 Boeing 737-800 planes operated by South Korean airlines.
Jeju Air flight 7C2216, arriving from Thailand's capital Bangkok with 175 passengers and six crew on board, was attempting to land shortly after 9 am (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 said. Experts say many questions remain, including why the plane, which uses two CFM 56-7B26 engines, appears to be moving too fast and why its landing gear is not visible on the ground when it skids off the runway into a wall.
CFM International is a joint venture between GE Aerospace and France Saffron (EPA:).
On Monday, officials of the transport department said that as the pilots were making a planned approach they told air traffic control that the plane was affected by a bird strike, shortly after the control tower alerted them of birds seen in the vicinity.
The pilots then declared a Mayday and signaled their intention to go around shortly before the aircraft descended the runway on a belly landing and crashed into a building at the end of the runway.
Officials are investigating the role he played at the end of the runway, in the accident, including the curb he was standing on, transport department officials told a press conference.
The accident killed many local residents who were returning from holidays in Thailand, while two Thai nationals also died.
On Monday morning, investigators were trying to identify the last remaining victims, as distraught families waited inside the Muan airport.
Park Han-shin, whose elder brother was killed in the accident, says he was told by the authorities that his brother has been identified but has not yet seen his body.
Park asked other victims' families to unite in responding to the disaster and recovery efforts, citing the 2014 ferry disaster that killed more than 300 people. Prolonged efforts to identify the victims and the cause of the sinking followed the disaster.
Emergency workers were sifting through the wreckage when the plane was engulfed in flames and debris at a regional airport near the country's west coast.
Transportation department officials said the flight's data recorder has been recovered but appears to have sustained damage and it is not yet clear if the data is complete enough to be analyzed.
Muan Airport remains closed until Wednesday but other international and regional airports including Incheon International Airport were operating as planned.
Shares of Jeju Air hit a record low on Monday, trading up 15.7%.
Under international aviation law, South Korea will lead a local investigation into the crash and automatically involve the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) in the United States, where the plane was designed and built.
The NTSB said it is leading a team of US investigators to assist South Korean aviation authorities. Boeing and the Federal Aviation Administration were also participating.
Choi, who oversaw community recovery efforts and investigations, became acting leader just three days ago after the country's president and prime minister were accused of imposing short-term martial law.