South Korean investigators on Friday began removing the wreckage of the Jeju Air Boeing 737-800 that crashed there on Dec. 29, killing 179 people, from Muan Airport.
AFP journalists saw a giant yellow crane lifting pieces of the plane’s charred wreckage, including what appeared to be a piece of the engine.
The plane, which was flying from Bangkok to Muan, a city located about 290 km south of Seoul, issued a distress call and landed on its belly, before hitting a concrete wall at high speed at the end. track and disintegrate. All occupants of the aircraft died, with the exception of a flight attendant and a steward.
The exact cause of the accident remains unknown. Investigators initially cited a collision with a bird and defective landing gear.
“Today we will lift the tail of the plane using a crane,” Na Won-ho, head of investigation of the South Jeolla provincial police, said Friday morning at a conference of press at Muan International Airport.
“We expect remains to be found in this section. For everything to be finished and for us to have the results, we have to wait until tomorrow” (Saturday), he added.
The police promised to quickly clarify the causes and responsibilities of the disaster. But according to the Department of Transportation, finding out exactly what happened is expected to take between six months and three years.
-On Thursday and Friday, South Korean police conducted searches at Jeju Air offices and Muan Airport.
South Korean authorities also ordered an inspection of all Boeing 737-800s operated by the country’s airlines, focusing on the landing gear.
The investigation is being led by South Korean air safety officials, with help from the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which routinely responds to accidents involving US-made planes.
Relatives of the victims have flocked to the disaster site in recent days to gather and collect the personal belongings of their loved ones.
According to the country’s interim president, Choi Sang-mok, in office for less than a week, all the victims have been identified.
This is the worst air disaster ever to occur in South Korea.
