S. Korean transport ministry to inspect all Boeing 737-800 aircraft following tragic crash
MUAN COUNTY, South Korea – The South Korean transport ministry announced plans to conduct a special inspection of all 101 Boeing 737-800 aircraft operated by South Korean airliners beginning on Monday, with a focus on the maintenance record of key components, according to Reuters.
“As soon as the accident recovery is conducted, the transport ministry is requested to conduct an emergency safety inspection of the entire aircraft operation system to prevent recurrence of aircraft accidents,” South Korea’s acting President Choi Sang-mok said.
All 175 passengers and four of the six crew were killed when a Jeju Air 089590.KS Boeing BA. N 737-800 belly-landed and skidded off the end of the runway at Muan International Airport, erupting in a fireball as it slammed into a wall. Two crew members were pulled out alive.
The ministry officials said as the pilots made a scheduled approach, they told air traffic control the aircraft had suffered a bird strike, shortly after the control tower gave them a warning birds were spotted in the vicinity.
The pilots then issued a mayday warning and signalled their intention to abandon the landing and to go around and try again. Shortly afterwards, the aircraft came down on the runway in a belly landing, touching down about 1,200 metres (1,312 yards) along the 2,800 metres (3,062 yard) runway and sliding into the embankment at the end of the runway.
On the one hand, investigators are examining bird strikes, whether any of the aircraft’s control systems were disabled, and the apparent rush by the pilots to attempt a landing soon after declaring an emergency as possible factors in the crash, fire, and transportation officials have said.
On the other hand, experts say many questions remain, including why the plane, powered by two CFM 56-7B26 engines, appeared to be travelling so fast and why its landing gear did not appear to be down when it skidded down the runway and into a concrete embankment.
CFM International is a joint venture between GE Aerospace GE. N and France’s Safran SAF.PA.
Transportation ministry officials said the jet’s flight data recorder was recovered but appeared to have sustained some damage on the outside, and it was not yet clear whether the data was sufficiently intact to be analysed.
The recorder has been transported to Seoul, and an analysis will begin when a team of U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and Boeing officials arrives in the country late on Monday, the officials told reporters.
Separately, 2024 had already been a challenging year for Boeing. However, the tragic air crash in South Korea marked a devastating end to an especially difficult year for the American aviation giant.
For decades, Boeing has been a cornerstone of American manufacturing. Yet the repeated troubles over the past year have taken a toll. The company’s stock price has dropped more than 30% in 2024.
The company’s reputation for safety was severely damaged by the 737 Max crashes, which occurred off the coast of Indonesia and in Ethiopia less than five months apart in 2018 and 2019, resulting in a combined 346 fatalities. In the five years since, Boeing has lost over $23 billion and has fallen behind its European rival, Airbus, in both selling and delivering new planes.
