Pre-flight checks found no issues, Jeju Air CEO says

Hours before the Jeju Air plane crashed in South Korea, killing 179 people, “there is no problem”, the airline said.

“Nothing unusual was detected with the landing gear,” the airline’s chief Kim Yi-bae told a news conference in Seoul, as investigations continue into why the wheels did not come down when it made the emergency landing.

The flight from Bangkok crashed at Muan International Airport on Sunday, bursting into flames and killing all but two crew members. after jumping over the wall.

Investigators are still working to identify the victims and determine the cause of South Korea’s deadliest plane crash.

Many questions remain unanswered and researchers are looking at what role the bird played or what the weather has been doing.

They are also looking into why the Boeing 737-800 did not have its landing gear down when it hit the airport shortly after 09:00 local time (00:00 GMT) on Sunday.

Hundreds of grieving relatives have been camping at the airport in Muan, angry that they have not seen the bodies of their loved ones.

So far only a few bodies of those killed have been released to their families. On Tuesday, four were taken to the funeral but many other families are waiting for their loved ones to be identified.

In response to questions about the company’s safety 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.

He said his pilots were trained to follow the rules, and the company has two flight simulators.

“We have 12.9 maintenance workers per aircraft, up from 12 in 2019,” he said.

“We have a fixed maintenance schedule, it is impossible to miss things. If something is missed it can be a big problem.

“As to whether the equipment worked properly, this is directly related to the accident investigation, and we cannot know at this time.”

Mr Kim said the airline would reduce the number of flights this winter by 10-15%, in order to be able to carry out maintenance work, but said this was not an acknowledgment that the company was operating too many flights.

He also said that he will increase the monitoring of the weather conditions before and after the flight.

Mr Kim also acknowledged that over the past five years, Jeju Air had paid more fines and faced more than every Korean airline – but said the company was constantly improving its safety record.

He said he was committed to strengthening the company’s safety and security, adding: “We want to improve your trust in us by strengthening our security.”

Mr Kim said the airline was preparing emergency compensation for the families of the victims and was paying for the funeral expenses.

The money will be released soon, he said, before the insurance process is completed. He added that the company’s employees are on the scene to provide psychological counseling to the families.

The 179 passengers on flight 7C2216 were aged between three and 78, although most were in their 40s, 50s and 60s, according to Yonhap news agency. Two Thai nationals are among the dead and the rest are believed to be South Koreans, officials said.

Many family members are disappointed with the time it took to identify the bodies of the victims of the accident, but the government officials said that it is difficult because those who were on the train were badly burned after the accident.

A man the BBC spoke to at the airport said his niece and two nephews were on a celebratory trip to Thailand to sit their college entrance exams. All three died on the plane.

“I can’t believe the whole family is gone,” Maeng Gi-su, 78, told the BBC. “My heart hurts so much.”

The runway at Muan International Airport is set to remain closed for another week as law enforcement teams collect debris and debris.

Investigators began inspecting the plane’s two black boxes – the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder – on Tuesday.

The second device is missing a key connector, they say, which could make it difficult to extract data. This could prolong the search for answers as to why the plane was forced to land without its landing gear.

Officials also said they were reviewing the rules surrounding the concrete barrier the plane hit when it skidded off the end of the runway.

Meanwhile, New Year’s celebrations in South Korea have been canceled or scaled back as the country observes a week of national mourning for those affected by the disaster.

The annual ringing of the bells marks the start of the New Year in Seoul instead with a non-theatrical silence and a moment of silence.

On Tuesday, the Seoul Metropolitan Government suspended operations for six months for a company that continued with fireworks on Monday – despite a request from the government to cancel the event after the accident.

According to Maeil Business Newspaper, Hyundai Cruise went ahead with a fireworks show on a cruise ship on the Han River citing difficulties in canceling reservations.

The company apologized amid public backlash, and the suspension means the company will be banned from operating cruise ships on the Han River until June.