South Korea struggles to determine cause of plane crash that killed 179 people

South Korean officials are struggling to determine what caused a plane crash that killed 179 people.

The nation is in shock over the country’s worst aviation disaster in decades with many observers worrying about how effectively the South Korean government will handle the aftermath of Sunday’s crash following the successive impeachments of President Yoon Suk Yeol and Prime Minster Han Duck-soo.

On Monday, new acting President Choi Sang-mok presided over a task force meeting on the crash and instructed the Transport Ministry and police to launch investigations into its cause.

He also ordered the ministry to implement an emergency review of the country’s overall aircraft operation systems.

Rescue team members work at the site of a plane fire at Muan International Airport in Muan, South Korea (AP/Ahn Young-joon). PA Media

“The essence of a responsible response would be renovating the aviation safety systems on the whole to prevent recurrences of similar incidents and building a safer Republic of South Korea,” said Mr Choi, who is also deputy prime minister and finance minister.

The Boeing 737-800 plane operated by South Korea’s budget airline Jeju Air skidded off a runway at Muan International Airport in the country’s south, slammed into a concrete fence and burst into a fireball.

The incident killed all but two of the 181 people aboard. The two survivors are both crew members and they were pulled from the plane’s tail section — the only part that was still recognisable after the crash.

Joo Jong-wan, the Transport Ministry’s director of aviation policy, said authorities have so far identified 141 of the bodies, and are conducting DNA tests on the other 38.

Alan Price, a former chief pilot at Delta Air Lines and now a consultant, said the Boeing 737-800 is a “proven airplane” that belongs to a different class of aircraft than the Boeing 737 Max jetliner that was linked to fatal crashes in 2018 and 2019.

But the Transport Ministry said Monday the government plans to conduct safety inspections on all Boeing 737-800 jetliners operated by the country’s airlines.

Ministry officials said they will also look into whether the Muan airport’s localiser — a concrete fence housing a set of antennas designed to guide aircraft safely during landings — should have been made with lighter materials that would break more easily upon impact.

Video of the crash indicated that the pilots did not deploy flaps or slats to slow the aircraft, suggesting a possible hydraulic failure, and they did not manually lower the landing gear, suggesting they did not have time, said John Cox, a retired airline pilot and chief executive of Safety Operating Systems in Florida.

South Korea’s acting President Choi Sang-mok arrives to pray for the victims on a plane that skidded off a runway and burst into flames (AP/Ahn Young-joon). PA Media

Despite that, the jetliner was under control and travelling in a straight line, and damage and injuries likely would have been minimized if not for a barrier being so close to the runway, Mr Cox said.

Other observers say the videos showed the plane suffering suspected engine trouble but the landing gear malfunction was likely a direct reason for the crash. They say there wouldn’t likely be a link between the landing gear problems and the suspected engine problem.

The Transport Ministry said on Sunday the control tower issued a warning about birds to the Jeju Air plane shortly before it intended to land and gave the crew permission to land in a different area. It said the plane’s pilot sent out a distress signal shortly before the crash.

Investigators retrieved the jet’s flight data and cockpit voice recorders, but it may take months to complete the probe into the crash, Joo, the Transport Ministry official, told reporters.