South Korea plane crash: Flags fly at half-mast as nation probes its worst plane crash

Mourners pay their respects at a memorial altar for victims of the Jeju Air plane crash at Muan Sports Park in Muan, South Korea on December 30, 2024. Photo / AFP

Flags flew at half-mast as South Korea mourned 179 people killed in the worst plane crash on its soil, as investigators probe why the Jeju Air plane crash-landed and burst into flames.

The country has started seven days of national mourning, with the acting president flying to the crash site in southwestern Muan for a memorial as teams of US and South Korean investigators raced to establish what caused Sunday’s disaster.

The Boeing 737-800 was carrying 181 people from Thailand to South Korea when it made a mayday call and belly-landing before crashing into a barrier and bursting into flames.

Mourners pay their respects at a memorial altar for victims of the Jeju Air plane crash at Muan Sports Park in Muan, South Korea. Photo / AFP

Everyone on board Jeju Air Flight 2216 was killed, save two flight attendants who were pulled from the wreckage.

Officials initially cited a bird strike as the likely cause of the crash, which flung passengers from the plane and left it “almost completely destroyed”, according to fire officials.

However, Seoul said on Monday it would conduct a special inspection of all 101 Boeing 737-800s in operation in the country, with US investigators, possibly including those from the aforementioned beleaguered plane manufacturer, joining the probe into the crash.

“We are reviewing plans to conduct a special inspection on B737-800 aircraft,” said Joo Jong-wan, head of the aviation policy bureau at South Korea’s transport ministry.

South Korea has a solid air safety record and both black boxes from Flight 2216 – the flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder – have been found.

South Korean investigators said on Monday 141 of the 179 victims had now been identified using DNA analysis or fingerprint collection, according to a statement from South Korea’s Ministry of Land.

There were only two survivors out of the 181 people on board the plane. Photo / South Korean National Fire Agency / AFP

Victims’ families camped out at the airport overnight in special tents set up in the airport lounge after a long, painful day waiting for news of their loved ones.

“I had a son on board that plane,” said an elderly man waiting in the airport lounge, who asked not to be named, saying his son’s body had not yet been identified.

Memorial

At the crash site early Monday, a middle-aged man and woman kept their gaze fixed through the fence, where remnants of the plane – seats, gates and twisted metal parts – were still scattered across the field near the charred tail.

The smell of blood was still in the air.

Soldiers carefully combed through a field of reeds next to the runway, engaged in what appeared to be a search for body parts.

South Korean Acting President Choi Sang-mok, who has only been in office since Friday, said the Government was making “every effort” to identify victims and support bereaved families.

Choi, an unelected bureaucrat who became acting president after his two predecessors were impeached, said on Monday a “thorough investigation into the cause of the accident” would be conducted.

A bird strike and adverse weather conditions were cited as likely causes of the crash. Photo / YONHAP / AFP

He also said South Korea would conduct “an urgent safety inspection of the overall aircraft operation system” to prevent future aviation disasters.

The passengers, with ages ranging from 3 to 78, were all Korean, apart from two Thais, authorities said.

Low-cost carrier Jeju Air said it “sincerely” apologised, with top officials shown bowing deeply at a news conference in Seoul.

Criticism grows of wall structure

Another Jeju Air flight using the same model aircraft experienced a malfunction linked to the landing gear and was forced to return to Seoul’s Gimpo airport shortly after takeoff, the Yonhap News Agency reported.

“We are aware of the return incident and looking into the cause,” a Jeju Air representative told AFP.

“We can’t say at this moment it was related to landing gear malfunction pending an investigation.”

Officials have pointed to a bird strike – a warning was issued by the control tower minutes before the crash – as a likely factor in Sunday’s crash.

However, a growing chorus of criticism from experts analysing dramatic video footage of Flight 2216’s landing has focused on whether airport construction could have played a part.

Kim Kwang-il, a professor of aeronautical science at Silla University and a former pilot, said he was “quite upset” when he reviewed video showing the plane making a skilled emergency landing but then hitting a wall.

“There shouldn’t have been a solid structure in that area at all,” he told AFP.

“Normally, at the end of a runway, there’s no such solid obstruction – it’s against international aviation safety standards,” he said.

“The structure in question caused the aircraft to crash and catch fire.”

“Outside the airport, there are usually just fences, which are soft and wouldn’t cause significant damage. The plane could have skidded further and stopped naturally. The unnecessary structure is highly regrettable.”

- Agence France-Presse