December 30th 2024.
Officials in South Korea have announced that they will be conducting safety inspections of all Boeing 737-800 aircraft operated by the country's airlines. This decision comes in the wake of a tragic plane crash on Sunday that claimed the lives of 179 people. The incident has been deemed the worst aviation disaster in decades and has sparked an outpouring of national sympathy.
The South Korean government is facing a challenging situation as it grapples with a leadership vacuum after the recent successive impeachments of President Yoon Suk Yeol and Prime Minister Han Duck-soo. This political turmoil has raised concerns about how effectively the government will handle the disaster. Many are worried about the country's ability to respond to such a tragedy without its top two officials in place.
Acting President Choi Sang-mok, who is also the deputy prime minister and finance minister, has taken charge of the situation and presided over a task force meeting on Monday. He has 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," said Choi.
The plane involved in the crash was a Boeing 737-800 operated by South Korean budget airline Jeju Air. It aborted its first landing attempt for reasons that are still unclear. During its second landing attempt, the pilot received a bird strike warning from the ground control centre before issuing a distress signal. Tragically, the plane landed without its front landing gear deployed, and subsequently overshot the runway, crashing into a concrete fence and bursting into flames.
Aviation experts have weighed in on the incident, with former Delta Air Lines chief pilot Alan Price stating that the Boeing 737-800 is a "proven airplane" and belongs to a different class than the Boeing 737 Max that was involved in fatal crashes in 2018 and 2019. Despite this, the South Korean Transport Ministry has announced plans to conduct safety inspections of all 101 Boeing 737-800 planes operated by the country's airlines, as well as a broader review into safety standards at Jeju Air, which operates 39 of those planes.
The ministry also revealed that representatives from the US National Transportation Safety Board and Boeing would be arriving in South Korea on Monday to participate in the investigation. They are also looking into whether the concrete fence at Muan airport, which is designed to guide aircraft safely during landings, should have been made with lighter materials that would break more easily upon impact. Similar concrete structures have been identified at other domestic airports and in other countries, raising concerns about their effectiveness in the event of a crash.
Video footage of the crash has revealed 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, indicating that they may not have had enough time to do so. Despite this, experts have noted that the plane was still under control and travelling in a straight line, and if not for the barrier being so close to the runway, the damage and injuries would have been minimized.
The investigation into the crash is ongoing, and the plane's flight data and cockpit audio recorders have been moved to a research centre for analysis. The South Korean government has announced a seven-day national mourning period through January 4, and the Transport Ministry has stated that it will take months to complete the investigation.
The Muan crash is the deadliest aviation disaster in South Korea since 1997, when a Korean Airlines plane crashed in Guam, killing 228 people. The tragedy has shocked and saddened many South Koreans, with the government announcing a seven-day national mourning period. Some have raised questions about safety and regulatory issues in the country, referencing past incidents such as a Halloween crush in 2022 that killed 160 people and a ferry sinking in 2014 that claimed 304 lives.
The Transport Ministry has identified 146 bodies and is collecting DNA and fingerprint samples from the remaining 33. However, due to the extent of the damage, it may take some time before the bodies can be returned to their families. The bereaved families are demanding that the government mobilize more personnel to speed up the process.
The crash has only added to the tumultuous atmosphere in South Korea, which is already reeling from a political crisis triggered by President Yoon's martial law decree. This has resulted in the impeachment of Yoon and Prime Minister Han, leaving a leadership void in the midst of a national disaster. There are concerns about whether the government's disaster management capabilities will be affected by the absence of top officials.
In the midst of this tragedy, the South Korean people are coming together to support each other and mourn the lives lost. It is a difficult time for the country, but they are determined to find answers and ensure that such a tragedy never happens again.
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