The first clue to the Jeju Air crash

Acting South Korean President Choi Sang-mok has ordered an emergency safety inspection of the entire aviation system, while Seoul is considering a plan to conduct a “special inspection” of all Boeing 737-800 aircraft operating in the country, following the December 29 crash - the country's worst civil aviation disaster.

Investigators search the wreckage of a plane crash in South Korea. (Source: The Guardian)

According to The Guardian , South Korea has begun 7 days of national mourning, with flags flying at half-mast and acting President Choi Sang Mok flying to the crash site in southwestern Muan to pay his respects.

141 of the 179 victims have now been identified through DNA analysis or fingerprint collection. Families of the victims camped overnight at the airport in special tents set up in the waiting room.

Investigative teams, from the US and South Korea, are now trying to determine the cause of the disaster. Both black boxes - the flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder - have been found.

Officials initially offered few clues, including the possibility that bird strikes may have caused the crash, although many questions remain about exactly what happened.

Another Jeju Airlines flight using a B737-800 experienced a problem with its landing gear and was forced to return to Seoul's Gimpo airport shortly after takeoff, Yonhap news agency reported. A Jeju Air representative said they "learned about the problem upon return" and were "looking into the cause."

Experts who reviewed footage of the disaster questioned the airport's design, criticizing the decision to build the wall - a solid structure - at one end of the airport.

Condolences continued to pour in from around the world. US President Joe Biden said the country stood ready to provide “any necessary assistance”, while Chinese President Xi Jinping and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen sent messages of sympathy. Pope Francis, speaking at the Vatican, said he had just “prayed for both the survivors and the dead”.

The landing gear failure is one of the issues being investigated, which occurred after the plane skidded off the runway in what the aviation industry describes as a “belly landing.” Officials have confirmed that 179 of the 181 passengers and crew on board died when the Jeju Air plane crashed into a wall at Muan International Airport after attempting to land without deploying its landing gear.

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/tham-hoa-may-bay-o-han-quoc-manh-moi-dau-tien-gay-ra-tai-nan-cua-jeju-air-299134.html