South Korea extends Boeing 737-800 inspections following fatal crash (updated)

JejuAir Co

03/01/2025 05:58

* 
      Boeing 737-800 checks in South Korea extended to Jan. 10
    

        * 
      Engine maker GE joins crash probe
    

        * 
      Mobile phones retrieved from crash site could provide
clues
    

  
 (Adds jet engine maker joining crash probe in paragraph 1, 
ministry comment on 737-800 checks in paragraph 3)
    By Hyunjoo Jin
       SEOUL, Jan 3 (Reuters) - South Korea's transport
ministry has extended by a week special inspections of all 101
of the Boeing 737-800 jets run by the country's airlines, as jet
engine maker GE  GE.N  joined a probe into the deadliest
aviation disaster on the country's soil.
    The ministry launched the inspections following Sunday's
crash of a Boeing 737-800 operated by Jeju Air  089590.KS  that
killed 179 people. 
    The inspections were supposed to be completed on Friday but
were extended to Jan. 10 for additional checks, such as whether
airlines spent enough time carrying out maintenance and secured
parts for repairs, a ministry official told reporters.
        The Jeju Air flight from Bangkok to Muan county in
southwestern South Korea belly-landed and overshot the regional
airport's runway, exploding into flames after hitting an
embankment.    
    The ministry has said it would look at engines, maintenance
records and landing gear on all 737-800s, and an airline's
operations could be suspended for serious violations.
    The plane's engines are produced under GE's CFM
International joint venture with Safran  SAF.PA .
    While it is unclear yet what caused the disaster, the Jeju
Air crash adds to headaches faced by Boeing as the planemaker
battles to restore trust with customers following two fatal 737
MAX crashes, a mid-air panel blowout, and a seven-week strike.
        The transport ministry also held an emergency meeting
with the chief executives of 11 airlines, including top-ranked
Korean Air Lines  003490.KS  and Asiana Airlines  020560.KS , to
discuss measures to enhance aviation safety. 
    South Korea's investigation team said on Friday two of its
members would leave for the United States next week to analyse
the flight data recorder of the crash in cooperation with the
U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). 
    The team is also studying the plane wreckage and
interviewing airport control tower officials.
    Investigators will analyse data on 107 mobile phones
recovered from the crash site, including text messages, for
clues on what happened leading up to the crash, Yonhap News
said.
    South Korean acting President Choi Sang-mok on Friday urged
investigators to work swiftly to collect evidence from the crash
scene and analyse a voice recorder.  
    Unanswered questions include why the aircraft did not deploy
its landing gear and what led the pilot to apparently rush into
a second attempt at landing after telling air traffic control
the plane had suffered a bird strike and declaring an emergency.
    Police said on Thursday they were searching Jeju Air and the
operator of Muan International Airport and banned Jeju Air chief
executive Kim E-bae and an unidentified official from leaving
the country.  
    

 (Reporting by Hyunjoo Jin; Editing by Sonali Paul)
 ((hyunjoo.jin@thomsonreuters.com; 82-2-3704-5685; Reuters
Messaging: hyunjoo.jin.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))