Gone too soon: Handwritten notes left on a board in Seoul for the victims of the Jeju Air plane which crashed and burst into flames at Muan International Airport in Muan. — AFP
Search operations at the Jeju Air plane crash site came to an end one week after the tragic accident that claimed 179 lives, according to South Korean media.
The flight, carrying 181 passengers and crew from Thailand to South Korea, issued a mayday call before belly-landing and slamming into a barrier, killing all aboard except two flight attendants.
South Korean officials said the firefighting agency, police and national forensics team completed their search on and around the plane’s tail section on the night of Jan 4, Yonhap News Agency reported.
The section was the only part of the aircraft that remained intact after the explosion and was lifted off the ground on Jan 3 during the search operation.
All 179 bodies have been recovered, with 151 already returned to their families along with their identified personal belongings.
The remaining 25 bodies, excluding those of a family of three, are expected to be returned to their families on Jan 5.
Officials said any additional discovery of bodies or personal items was unlikely.
The exact cause of the flight’s crash is still unknown, but investigators have pointed to a bird strike, faulty landing gear and an installation at the end of the runway which the plane struck as possible issues.
On Jan 2 and 3, South Korean police raided the offices of Jeju Air and the Muan airport operator as part of their investigation.
Police were securing evidence from the airport’s localiser – a concrete wall housing an antenna array – as well as the communication record between the control tower and pilot shortly before the plane crashed, Yonhap reported.
South Korea has also announced it will inspect all Boeing 737-800 aircraft operated by its carriers, focusing on the landing gear – which appeared to have malfunctioned during the Jeju Air crash.
South Korea’s Transport Ministry confirmed on Jan 4 that investigators had made progress in finalising and compiling the transcript of the cockpit voice recorder recovered from the wreckage.
This may provide insight as to what happened before the crash, Yonhap said. — The Straits Times/ANN
