ReutersA pre-flight inspection of a Jeju Airlines passenger plane hours before it crashed in South Korea, killing 179 people, found “no problems,” the airline said.
“Nothing abnormal was observed in the landing gear,” Kim Yi-bae, CEO of the airline, said at a press conference in Seoul, while investigations continue into why the wheels did not fall off when it made an emergency landing.
The plane was arriving from Bangkok when it crashed at Muan International Airport on Sunday, causing it to catch fire and killing all those on board, except for two crew members. After slipping into the wall.
Investigators are still working to identify the victims and determine the cause of South Korea's worst air crash on record.
Many questions remain unanswered, and investigators are looking into what role bird strikes or weather conditions may have played.
They are also focusing on why the Boeing 737-800's landing gear did not lower when it hit the runway shortly after 09:00 local time (00:00 GMT) on Sunday.
Hundreds of grieving relatives of victims are camped at Muan Airport, angry because they have not yet seen the bodies of their loved ones.
So far, only a small number of the remains of the victims have been delivered to their families. On Tuesday, four were taken to funeral homes but most other families were still waiting to identify their loved ones.
In response to questions about the company's safety procedures on Tuesday, Jeju Air CEO Kim Yi-bae said the plane would not have been allowed to take off if the maintenance team had not signed off on its safety.
Its pilots were trained to regulatory standards, he said, and the company had two full flight simulators.
“We have 12.9 maintenance workers per aircraft, compared to 12 in 2019,” he said.
“We have a strict maintenance checklist, and it is not possible to miss anything. If something is missed, it will be a serious problem.
He added: “As for whether the landing gear was working properly, this is directly related to the investigation of the accident, and we are not in a position to know that at the present time.”
Kim said the airline will reduce its air traffic this winter by 10-15% so it can perform more maintenance on the planes, but he said this is not an admission that the company is operating too many planes.
He added that they will increase their monitoring of the weather before and after flights.
Kim also acknowledged that over the past five years, Jeju Airlines has paid the most fines and faced the most administrative action of any Korean airline, but said the company is constantly working to improve its safety record.
He said that he is committed to enhancing the company's safety and maintenance procedures, adding: “We aim to restore your trust in us by strengthening our safety procedures.”
Kim said the airline is preparing emergency compensation for the victims' families and covering the cost of funerals.
He added that the funds will be released soon before the insurance process is completed. He added that the company's employees are on site to provide psychological counseling to families.
Yonhap News Agency reported that the ages of the 179 passengers on board Flight 7C2216 ranged from three to 78 years, although most of them were in their forties, fifties and sixties. Authorities said two Thai citizens were among the dead and the rest were believed to be from South Korea.
Many relatives are frustrated by how long it has taken to identify the bodies of the victims, but officials say it is a challenge because those on board were severely burned in the fire after the accident.
A man the BBC spoke to at the airport said his nephew and his nephew's two sons were on a celebratory trip to Thailand to celebrate the end of university entrance exams. All three died on the plane.
Maing Ji Soo, 78, told the BBC: “I can't believe the whole family has just disappeared.” “My heart hurts so much.”
The runway at Muan International Airport is scheduled to remain closed for another week while forensic teams collect more remains and debris.
Investigators began examining the plane's black boxes, the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder, on Tuesday.
They say the second device is missing a critical connector, making data extraction more difficult. This may prolong the search for answers about why this plane had to land without its landing gear.
Officials also said they were studying regulations regarding the concrete barrier the plane hit when it skidded beyond the end of the runway.
