By Ju-min Park and Hongji Kim
MUAN COUNTY, South Korea (Reuters) – South Korea’s acting President Choi Sang-mok ordered an emergency safety inspection of the country’s entire airline operation as investigators worked to identify victims and find out what caused the deadliest air disaster on South Korean soil.
All 175 passengers and four of the six crew were killed when a Jeju Air Boeing 737-800 belly-landed and skidded off the end of the runway at Muan International Airport, erupting in a fireball as it slammed into a wall. Two crew members were pulled out alive.
The top priority for now is identifying the victims, supporting their families and treating the two survivors, Choi told a disaster management meeting in Seoul.
“Even before the final results are out, we ask that officials transparently disclose the accident investigation process and promptly inform the bereaved families,” he said.
“As soon as the accident recovery is conducted, the transport ministry is requested to conduct an emergency safety inspection of the entire aircraft operation system to prevent recurrence of aircraft accidents,” he said.
As a first step, the transport ministry announced plans to conduct a special inspection of all 101 Boeing 737-800 aircraft operated by South Korean airliners beginning on Monday, focusing on the maintenance record of key components.
The 737-800 is one of the world’s most flown aircraft with a generally strong safety record. It was developed well before the MAX variant involved in a recent Boeing safety crisis.
Jeju Air flight 7C2216, arriving from the Thai capital Bangkok, was trying to land shortly after 9 a.m. (0000 GMT) on Sunday at the airport in the south of the country.
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.
Experts say many questions remain, including why the plane, powered by two CFM 56-7B26 engines, appeared to be travelling so fast and why its landing gear did not appear to be down when it skidded down the runway and into a concrete embankment.
“I can’t think of any reason for being forced to make a landing like this,” said aviation safety expert John Nance, a former military and commercial pilot who flew 737s for Alaska Airlines.
The plane landed at high speed, and based on video, the pilots did not or could not take steps to slow it down, Nance said.
CFM International is a joint venture between GE Aerospace and France’s Safran (EPA:).
On Monday, transport ministry officials said that as the pilots made a scheduled approach they told air traffic control the aircraft had suffered a bird strike, shortly after the control tower gave them a warning birds were spotted in the vicinity.
The pilots then issued a Mayday warning and signalled their intention to abandon the landing and to go around and try again. Shortly afterwards, the aircraft came down on the runway in a belly landing, touching down about 1,200 metres (1,310 yards) along the 2,800 metre (3,062 yard) runway and sliding into the embankment at the end of the landing strip.
‘YOU DON’T HAVE A WALL’
Officials are investigating what role the localiser antenna, located at the end of the runway to help in landing, played in the crash, including the concrete embankment on which it was standing, transport ministry officials told a media briefing.
“Normally, on an airport with a runway at the end, you don’t have a wall,” said Christian Beckert, a flight safety expert and Lufthansa pilot based in Munich. “You more have maybe an engineered material arresting system, which lets the airplane sink into the ground a little bit and brakes (it).”
The crash killed mostly local residents who were returning from holidays in Thailand, while two Thai nationals also died.
“I can only accept it, make peace with it,” said Boonchuay Duangmanee, 77, the father of one of the Thai victims. “When I think about it, I remind myself that it was an accident. It’s something that can happen to anyone. So, I’ve come to terms with it because no matter what I do, my daughter won’t come back.”
On Monday morning, investigators were trying to identify some of the more than two dozen remaining victims, as anguished families waited inside the Muan airport terminal.
Park Han-shin, who lost his brother in the crash, said he was told by authorities that his brother had been identified but he has not been able to see his body.
Park called on victims’ families to unite in responding to the disaster, citing a 2014 ferry sinking that killed more than 300 people. Many relatives of the victims of the Sewol ferry disaster complained it took authorities too long to identify those killed and the cause of that accident.
Transportation ministry officials said the jet’s flight data recorder was recovered but appeared to have sustained some damage on the outside and it was not yet clear whether the data was sufficiently intact to be analyzed.
The recorder has been transported to Seoul and an analysis will begin when a team of U.S. National Transportation Safety Board and Boeing officials arrive in the country late on Monday, the officials told reporters.
Muan International Airport remains closed through Wednesday but the rest of South Korea’s international and regional airports including the main Incheon International Airport were operating as scheduled.
Shares of Jeju Air hit their lowest level on record on Monday, trading as much as 15.7% lower.
Boeing’s shares experienced a 2% decrease. The recent plane crash in South Korea has raised concerns about the potential impact on airplane manufacturers’ stock prices, according to Wolfe Research analyst Myles Walton. As per global aviation regulations, South Korea will lead the investigation into the crash with the involvement of the NTSB, given that the aircraft was manufactured in the United States.
A memorial has been established in a county gym near the crash site, where individuals, including acting President Choi, have paid their respects. Choi, who assumed leadership just three days ago following the impeachment of the country’s president and prime minister, is overseeing the recovery efforts and investigation.
The aviation insurance sector may face a claim ranging from $15 million to $20 million for airline hull insurance and $120 million to $180 million for passenger liability claims due to the crash, as estimated by Marcos Alvarez, managing director of global insurance ratings at Morningstar DBRS.