South Korean transport minister plans to resign over country's worst air crash (updated)

JejuAir Co

07/01/2025 08:46

* 
      Transport minister to resign over Jeju Air crash
    

        * 
      Ministry says to improve safety of airport landing systems
    

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      Investigation focuses on embankment construction and bird
strike
    

  
 (Adds more details from briefing from paragraph 9)
    By Hyunjoo Jin
       SEJONG, South Korea, Jan 7 (Reuters) - South Korea's
transport minister said on Tuesday he intends to step down to
take responsibility for the deadly crash of a Boeing jet
operated by Jeju Air on Dec. 29. 
    Jeju Air 7C2216, which departed the Thai capital of Bangkok
for Muan in southwestern South Korea, belly-landed and overshot
the regional airport's runway, exploding into flames after
hitting an embankment. 
    "I feel heavy responsibility for this disaster," Park
Sang-woo told a press briefing. 
    He said he will try to find the right timing to resign after
addressing the current situation.
    The transport ministry also said it will swiftly improve the
safety of airport landing systems that experts said contributed
to the catastrophic accident that killed 179 people on board. 
    Air safety experts have said the embankment, designed to
prop up the "localizer" antenna used to guide landings in poor
visibility, was too rigid and too close to the end of the
runway.
    Joo Jong-wan, the deputy transport minister for civil
aviation, acknowledged that safety measures were not sufficient
when building the embankment, but said they were done in line
with regulations in Korea and overseas. 
    The police are investigating how the embankment was
constructed, he said. The police last week raided Jeju Air and
the operator of Muan International Airport as part of their
investigation into the crash.
    Feathers were found on one of the engines recovered from the
crash scene, the lead investigator Lee Seung-yeol said, adding
that video footage showed that there was a bird strike on one of
the engines. 
        Two of the Korean investigators on Monday left for the
United States to recover and analyse a flight data recorder
which was damaged during the crash, with the U.S. National
Transportation Safety Board. 
  
        The flight data recorder, along with a cockpit voice
recorder, are the two black boxes that contain key information
about the crash.
  
        Lee said it will take three days to extract files from
the flight data recorder, and another two days to do preliminary
analysis of basic information such as whether one or two engines
failed.       
  
        It remains unanswered 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.
  
        Experts say 
    bird strikes
     do not typically cause landing gear to malfunction. 
  
        Investigators on Saturday compiled the complete
transcript from the cockpit voice recorder recovered from the
wreckage of the Jeju Air plane, and will discuss whether to
disclose it or not. 
  

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