Probe begins into Air Busan fire with speculations over origin


The incident happened barely a month after the worst aviation disaster on South Korean soil. - Photo: EPA-EFE

SEOUL: With speculation rising over the cause of the fire on an Air Busan aircraft carrying 176 people late Tuesday (Jan 28) evening, authorities are planning to conduct a joint forensic investigation on Friday (Jan 31) with 10 officials from France’s Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety, who arrived in Korea at 3.30pm on Thursday (Jan 30).

The joint investigation team and BEA officials plan to work to identify the starting point and cause of the fire, abiding by the International Civil Aviation Organization’s regulations, which require the country responsible for manufacturing and designing the aircraft to take part in investigations.

The aircraft involved in the incident was manufactured by France-headquartered Airbus.

The safety checks took place until 2pm on Thursday.

After further discussions with authorities from the BEA, a joint probe could begin as early as Friday if the site is determined to be safe. If not, the forensic investigations may be pushed back to a later date.

“We will keep all possibilities open to determine the exact cause of the fire,” a ministry official told the press, Thursday.

A joint meeting was held Thursday morning with authorities from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport’s Aviation and Railway Accident Investigation Board, the Busan Metropolitan Police Agency, the Busan Fire Headquarters and the National Forensic Service, a day after preliminary inspections of the site were held jointly with ministry officials and fire agency authorities.

LBS RINGS IN LUNAR NEW YEAR WITH ROYAL PRESENCE

The joint meeting was held to discuss safety measures in investigating the site, considering the wings of the aircraft were still loaded with 15,875 kilogrammes of aviation fuel.

Authorities added that it had also recovered black boxes from the aircraft involved in the fire to assist further in investigating the cause behind the accident.

Police are also planning to conduct separate investigations to determine whether the airline is liable to professional negligence, by reviewing regulations regarding carry-on luggage acceptance and electric power facilities inside the affected plane.

The exact course of their investigation will be determined based on the results of the joint probe.

At 10.15pm Tuesday, the Air Busan plane, an Airbus A321-200, bound for Hong Kong from Gimhae International Airport in Busan, caught fire at its tail before takeoff.

According to testimony from passengers on board, a “crackling sound” could be heard from the overhead luggage compartment at the time, followed shortly by smoke.

A portable power bank inside a bag stowed in an overhead compartment was suspected to have sparked the fire, based on testimony by passengers and Air Busan officials.

According to Air Busan’s findings, reported by Joongang Ilbo, a flight attendant who was on the plane at the time of the fire testified that the fire was “presumed to have originated in the overhead bin above the seats in row 28.”

Though the exact cause of the fire is yet to be identified, an Air Busan official was quoted in local media reports stating that the fire “appears to have been caused by a passenger’s portable power bank, compressed inside the overhead bin.”

This isn’t the first time a portable power bank has been identified as the possible cause of an aircraft fire in South Korea.

In April last year, smoke was detected on an Asiana Airlines flight carrying 273 passengers due to a portable power bank stored inside a passenger’s bag in an overhead compartment.

Once smoke was detected, the flight attendants on board at the time quickly extinguished the overheated device before it caught fire, resulting in no casualties.

Smoke was also detected on another Air Busan flight in December last year before takeoff due to a portable power bank being used by a passenger to charge their phone.

The smoke was immediately extinguished by the flight attendants.

After conducting an initial inspection of the site on Wednesday, the ministry said that no indications of terrorism were found, adding it was based on its preliminary findings. - The Korea Herald/ANN

Follow us on our official WhatsApp channel for breaking news alerts and key updates!

Others Also Read


Want to listen to full audio?

Unlock unlimited access to enjoy personalise features on the TheStar.com.my

Already a member? Log In