The former president of the company that runs the South Korean airport where Jeju Air crashed last month has been found dead in his home, police said Wednesday.
Son Chang-wan, who served as president of the Korea Airports Corporation from 2018 to 2022, was found late Tuesday at his residence in Gunpo, about 14 miles south of Seoul. Police said there was no evidence of a murder or break-in at her home and called her death an apparent suicide.
Mr. Son was on duty at Muan International Airport on December 29 when renovations were carried out. Jeju Air disaster in which 179 people diedIt started in 2020. But he was not the subject of an accident investigation by the Jeonnam Provincial Police, according to an agency spokesman.
Korea Airports Corporation is a state-owned company that operates more than a dozen airports, including Muan. The company said that since Mr. Son's death was a private matter, it had no official statement.
One of the particular subjects of investigation into the crash involving the Boeing 737-800 is the concrete wall at Muan Airport that contains the array of antennas used to control the aircraft during landing. Jeju Air flight 7C2216 crashed into a wall at high speed and exploded, killing all but two of its passengers and crew.
It was the worst aviation disaster on South Korean soil and the world's deadliest since 2009. Lion Air Flight 610 in 2018All 189 people on board died.
Korea Airports Corporation's safety standards have been called into question, and critics argue that the disaster could have been less severe if the antenna array had been mounted on a more easily breakable device, as is the case at many other airports.
Government officials said the structure was built according to safety regulations. But inspection The Ministry of Transport has revealed that seven of the country's airports, including one in Muan, do not meet safety standards and their runways need to be upgraded.
On Wednesday, the transport ministry said it would replace the existing concrete structure in Muan with one that is easier to break. The ministry also said plans were underway to make localizers at airports of lighter, steel construction and to expand safety zones at the end of some runways to a minimum height of 790 feet. The Muan runway is expected to remain closed until mid-April.
A team of aviation officials from South Korea, the United States and Boeing is investigating the crash. Their attempts have already been thwarted by failure flight recorder stopped working a few minutes before the accident.
Police are conducting a separate investigation and have banned Jeju Air's CEO from leaving the country.