International investigators were to meet in South Korea Tuesday to probe the cause of the deadliest plane crash in the country’s history that had authorities rushing to identify victims and experts questioning elements of the airport’s runway design.
The National Police Agency says it is adding personnel and rapid DNA analyzers to hasten the identification of the five bodies still unidentified as of Tuesday.
Family members gathered at the country’s Muan International Airport, where the crash occurred Sunday, have pushed for faster identification and more information from authorities.
All 175 passengers and four of the six crew members were killed when a Jeju Air Boeing 737-800 belly-landed and skidded off the end of the runway, erupting in a fireball as it slammed into a wall. Two crew members were pulled out alive.
South Korea’s acting President Choi Sang-mok ordered an emergency safety inspection of all Boeing 737-800 aircraft operated by the country’s airliners, after the Jeju Air crash killed almost all of the passengers on board.
South Korea’s acting President Choi Sang-mok on Monday ordered an emergency safety inspection of the country’s entire airline operation as investigators sought to find out what caused the deadliest air disaster on South Korean soil.
The country’s Transportation Ministry said the black box flight recorder recovered from the crash site was missing key pieces and authorities were reviewing how to extract its data.
Inspections of all 101 B737-800s operated by South Korean airlines were scheduled to be completed by Jan. 3, while the airport will remain closed until Jan. 7, the ministry said.
Representatives from the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), Federal Aviation Administration, and aircraft manufacturer Boeing have joined the investigative body and plan to meet in Muan on Tuesday.
The NTSB said in a statement it sent three investigators to South Korea to assist the investigation, including people with specialties in operational factors and airworthiness.
“If we need more specialists we will send them,” NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy said in an interview.
Questions about embankment, bird strikes
Investigators are examining bird strikes, whether any of the aircraft’s control systems were disabled, and the apparent rush by the pilots to attempt a landing soon after declaring an emergency as possible factors in the crash, fire and transportation officials have said.
Officials have also faced pointed questions about design features at the airport, particularly a large dirt-and-concrete embankment near the end of the runway used to support navigation equipment.
The plane slammed into the embankment at high speed and erupted into a fireball. Bodies and body parts were thrown into surrounding fields and most of the aircraft disintegrated in flames.
South Korean officials say the embankment was built according to standards, and that there are similar features at other airports including in the United States and Europe.
But many experts said its proximity to the end of the runway defied best practices and likely made the crash far more deadly than it may have been otherwise.
John Cox, the CEO of aviation consulting firm Safety Operating Systems and a former 737 pilot, said the runway design “absolutely” did not meet industry best practices, which preclude any hard structure like a berm within at least 300 metres of a runway’s end.
The airport’s concrete berm appears to be less than half that distance from the end of the pavement, according to an analysis of satellite images by Reuters.
South Korean officials have said the embankment is about 250 metres from the end of the runway itself, though a paved apron extends past that.
In video footage of the crash, the plane appeared to be slowing down and in control when it went off the runway, Cox said.
“When it hits that berm is when it turns into tragedy.”
