Washington: A team of investigators from the US government and aircraft manufacturer Boeing Co have arrived at the site of a plane crash that killed 179 people in South Korea to participate in the investigation into the incident, officials said on December 31, 2024.
The plane, a Boeing 737-800 operated by South Korean budget airline Jeju Air,
was carrying 181 people from Thailand on Sunday when it issued a mayday call and belly-landed before hitting a barrier and bursting into flames, killing everyone aboard except two flight attendants who were pulled from the burning wreckage.
According to Seoul's transport ministry, one member from the US Federal Aviation Administration, three experts from the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and four representatives from Boeing have joined officials of South Korea's Aviation and Railway Accident Investigation Board (ARAIB) for the investigation at the site of the accident, IANS reported, citing Yonhap news agency.
The US team arrived in South Korea this week via Incheon International Airport and travelled directly to Muan, some 290 kilometres southwest of Seoul, to prepare for the investigation. "South Korean and US investigators discussed the schedule procedures and specific areas of focus for the investigation," Joo Jong-wan, head of aviation policy at the transport ministry, said at a press briefing.
According to the ministry, the US and Boeing representatives, together with 11 members of South Korea's ARAIB, are currently assessing the wreckage and debris at the crash site, searching for components that could offer clues about the cause of the accident.
One of the black boxes, the aircraft's flight data recorder, was found to have suffered exterior damage and to be missing a connector that links its data storage unit to the power supply. The second black box, the cockpit voice recorder, is reportedly in a relatively better condition. Investigators said they will send one of the retrieved black boxes to the United States for analysis, according to AFP news agency.
