Aviation safety experts on Tuesday questioned the location of the airport embankment that a South Korean airliner hit after skidding past the end of the runway, sending the country the country's deadliest plane crash.
All 175 passengers and four of six crew members were killed Sunday when Jeju Air flight 089590.KS landed on its belly at Muan International Airport, plowed into a sand and concrete embankment and exploded in a ball of fire. Two crew members were pulled out alive.
It is still under investigation what caused the pilot to attempt to land after declaring an emergency.
However, comments included in the airport operations manual submitted in early 2024 indicated that the embankment was too close to the end of the runway and recommended that the location of equipment be reviewed during the planned expansion.
A transport ministry official said Tuesday that authorities would have to review the document before answering questions.
South Korea's acting president Choi Sang-mok has ordered emergency safety inspections of all Boeing 737-800 aircraft operated by the country's airliners following the Jeju Air crash that killed almost all passengers on board.
Experts criticized the location of the embankment on which the navigation equipment was located.
“Unfortunately, because of this, they all died because they literally hit the concrete structure,” Captain Ross Aimer, chief executive of Aero Consulting Experts, told Reuters.
– He shouldn't be there.
Police are still working to identify the victims
Meanwhile, police were working to identify the victims, and impatience grew among families gathered at the airport as they waited for the bodies of their loved ones to be released.
The National Police Agency said it was making every effort to speed up the identification of the five still unknown bodies by allocating more staff and high-speed DNA analyzers.
On Monday, South Korea's acting president, Choi Sang-mok ordered an emergency security check entire airline operations in the country as investigators tried to find out what caused the deadliest plane crash on South Korean soil.
The Ministry of Transport said the black box of a flight recorder recovered from the crash site was missing key components, leaving authorities wondering how to extract data from it.
The ministry said inspections of all 101 B737-800 aircraft operated by South Korean airlines were scheduled to be completed by Jan. 3, while the airport would remain closed until Jan. 7.
Representatives from the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the Federal Aviation Administration and planemaker Boeing have joined the investigative body and plan to meet in Muan on Tuesday.
The NTSB said in a statement that it had sent three investigators to South Korea to help with the investigation, including people specializing in operational and airworthiness factors.
“If we need more specialists, we will send them,” NTSB Chairman Jennifer Homendy said in an interview.
Questions about embankments, bird strikes
Investigators are looking into the bird strikes, whether any of the plane's control systems were disabled and the apparent rush by the pilots to try to land shortly after the emergency was declared, as possible factors in the crash, fire and transportation authorities said.
Officials also faced sharp questions about the airport's structural elements, particularly a large dirt and concrete embankment at the end of the runway that housed navigation equipment.
The plane hit an embankment at high speed and exploded in a ball of fire. Bodies and body parts were thrown into nearby fields, and most of the planes burned.
South Korean officials say the embankment was built to standards and that similar features exist at other airports, including in the United States and Europe.
However, many experts said the proximity to the end of the runway was contrary to best practices and likely made the crash much deadlier than it otherwise might have been.
John Cox, CEO of consulting firm Safety Operating Systems and a former B737 pilot, said the runway design “absolutely” fails to meet industry best practices, which exclude any hard structure such as a berm at least 1,000 feet from the end of the runway.
A Reuters analysis of satellite imagery shows the airport's concrete embankment is less than half as far from the end of the sidewalk.
South Korean officials said the embankment was about 250 meters from the end of the runway, although a paved apron ran beyond it.
Cox said video footage of the crash showed the plane slowing down and gaining control as it skidded off the runway.
“When it hits that barrier, it turns into a tragedy.”
New Year's Eve celebrations canceled across the country
On Tuesday evening, both floors of Muan Airport's main building were still packed with grieving relatives as many of them waited for the altar to be opened to pay their respects. Others rested in hundreds of tents set up at the airport. Religious, social and voluntary organizations were busy providing food and drink.
Relatives took turns bowing before a makeshift altar lined with chrysanthemums and images of the deceased, and some sobbed loudly after paying their respects.
As the nation mourned the plane crash, New Year's Eve celebrations across the country were canceled.
Broadcasters KBS, MBS and SBS canceled their annual awards ceremonies or countdown festivals. The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced that the annual bell ringing show scheduled for Tuesday will be quiet with no performances but a moment of silence.