US sends South Korea investigators to probe deadly plane crash

The death toll for what amounted to be South Korea’s most fatal plane crash in decades stands at 179 people on Monday, a day after the disaster gripped the nation already in intense political turmoil. 

The United States is now sending investigators to help determine what caused the Jeju Air plane to crash-land at Muan airport and slam into a concrete barrier on Sunday.

Meanwhile, South Korean officials are combing through more than 600 body parts, and the stench of blood remains in the air at the crash site, the Daily Mail reported. 

So far, 141 bodies have been identified. The youngest passenger was a 3-year-old and the oldest was 78, the BBC reported. 

South Korea’s acting President Choi Sang-mok, wearing a green jacket, visits the site of a plane fire at Muan International Airport in Muan, South Korea, on Monday, Dec. 30, 2024.  (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

The plane had 181 people on board, and just two lone survivors – identified as 32-year-old Lee and 25-year-old Kwon, both flight attendants – were pulled from the tail end of the fiery aircraft alive.  

Doctors at Mokpo Korean Hospital reportedly described how Lee, who suffered a fractured left shoulder and head injuries but remained conscious, repeatedly asked them “What happened?” and “Why am I here?”

“It seems she was in a near-panic state, possibly worried about the safety of the plane and passengers,” one hospital official told the Korean Times. 

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Kwon, who is being treated at Mokpo Central Hospital, suffered a scalp laceration, a fractured ankle and abdominal pain, according to the report. She also had no immediate recollection of the crash. 

“While her life is not in danger, the trauma and injuries are significant,” another hospital said, according to the Korean Times. 

South Korea’s Transport Ministry said Monday it plans to conduct safety inspections of all of the 101 Boeing 737-800 jetliners operated by the country’s airlines as well as a broader review into safety standards at Jeju Air, which operates 39 of those planes. Senior ministry official Joo Jong-wan said representatives from the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board and Boeing were expected to arrive in South Korea on Monday to participate in the investigation.

“The NTSB is leading a team of U.S. investigators (NTSB, Boeing and FAA) to assist the Republic of Korea’s Aviation and Railway Accident Investigation Board (ARAIB) with their investigation of the Dec. 29 Jeju Air accident at Muan International Airport in Muan, Republic of Korea,” the NTSB Newsroom account wrote on X. 

Ministry officials also said they will look into whether the Muan airport’s localizer — a concrete fence housing a set of antennas designed to guide aircraft safely during landings — should have been made with lighter materials that would break more easily upon impact.

Joo said the ministry has determined that similar concrete structures are in other domestic airports, including in Jeju Island and the southern cities of Yeosu and Pohang, as well as airports in the United States, Spain and South Africa.

Sunday’s crash, the country’s worst aviation disaster in decades, triggered an outpouring of national sympathy. Many people worry how effectively the South Korean government will handle the disaster as it grapples with a leadership vacuum following the recent successive impeachments of President Yoon Suk Yeol and Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, the country’s top two officials, amid political tumult caused by Yoon’s brief imposition of martial law earlier this month.

New acting President Choi Sang-mok on Monday presided over a task force meeting on the crash and instructed authorities to conduct an emergency review of the country’s aircraft operation systems.

“The essence of a responsible response would be renovating the aviation safety systems on the whole to prevent recurrences of similar incidents and building a safer Republic of South Korea,” Choi, who is also deputy prime minister and finance minister, said, according to the Associated Press. 

A police officer works with a dog outside of Muan International Airport in Muan, South Korea, on Monday, Dec. 30, 2024.  (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

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The Boeing 737-800 plane operated by South Korean budget airline Jeju Air aborted its first landing attempt for reasons that aren’t immediately clear. Then, during its second landing attempt, it received a bird strike warning from the ground control center before its pilot issued a distress signal. The plane landed without its front landing gear deployed, overshot the runway, slammed into a concrete fence and burst into a fireball.

The Transport Ministry said authorities have identified 146 bodies and are collecting DNA and fingerprint samples from the other 33, according to the AP. 

Park Han Shin, a representative of the bereaved families, said they were told that the bodies were so badly damaged that officials need time before returning them to their families.

“I demand that the government mobilize more personnel to return our brothers and family members as intact as possible more swiftly,” he said, choking down tears.

Earlier Monday, another Boeing 737-800 plane operated by Jeju Air returned to Seoul’s Gimpo International Airport shortly after takeoff when the pilot detected a landing gear issue. Song Kyung-hoon, a Jeju Air executive, said the issue was resolved through communication with a land-based equipment center, but the pilot decided to return to Gimpo as a precautionary measure.

South Korean national flags fly at half-mast at the government complex in Seoul, South Korea, on Monday, Dec. 30, 2024.  (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Joo said officials were reviewing whether there might have been communication problems between air traffic controllers and the pilot. 

“Our current understanding is that, at some point during the go-around process, communication became somewhat ineffective or was interrupted, ahead of the landing and impact,” he said.

Ministry officials said Monday the plane’s flight data and cockpit audio recorders were moved to a research center at Gimpo airport ahead of their analysis. Ministry officials earlier said it would take months to complete the investigation of the crash.

The Muan crash is South Korea’s deadliest aviation disaster since 1997, when a Korean Airlines plane crashed in Guam, killing 228 people on board.

The crash left many South Koreans shocked and ashamed, with the government announcing a seven-day national mourning period through Jan. 4. Some questioned whether the crash involved safety or regulatory issues, such as a 2022 Halloween crush in Seoul that killed 160 people and a 2014 ferry sinking that killed 304 people.

Video of the crash indicated that the pilots did not deploy flaps or slats to slow the aircraft, suggesting a possible hydraulic failure, and did not manually lower the landing gear, suggesting they did not have time, John Cox, a retired airline pilot and CEO of Safety Operating Systems in St. Petersburg, Florida, told the AP. 

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Despite that, the jetliner was under control and traveling in a straight line, and damage and injuries likely would have been minimized if not for the barrier being so close to the runway, Cox said. Other observers said the videos showed the plane was suffering from suspected engine trouble, but the landing gear malfunction was likely a direct reason for the crash. They told the AP there wouldn’t likely be a link between the landing gear problem and the suspected engine issue.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.