US sends investigators to help establish cause of South Korea plane crash
Share:
Team from NTSB, FAA and manufacturer Boeing to assist investigation of Jeju Air crash that killed 179. The US is sending air accident investigators to South Korea to help determine what went wrong with the Jeju Air plane that crash-landed at Muan airport and skidded in a barrier early on Sunday, killing 179.
The team of investigators includes the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Boeing, which manufactured the 17-year-old aircraft. “The NTSB is leading a team of U.S. investigators (NTSB, Boeing and FAA) to assist the Republic of Korea’s Aviation and Railway Accident Investigation Board (ARAIB) with their investigation of the Dec. 29 Jeju Air accident at Muan International Airport in Muan, Republic of Korea,” the NTSB Newsroom account posted on X.
The Boeing 737-800, operated by the discount airline Jeju Air, had departed from Bangkok, Thailand and arrived in Muan, South Korea, at approximately 9am local time. Air safety experts have questioned why the plane had not been able to lower its undercarriage after being hit by an apparent bird strike despite having multiple redundancy systems aboard.
As of Sunday evening, local time, 179 of 181 people aboard the plane were confirmed dead. The two survivors were both crew members who were rescued from the back of the plane during the initial search, according to South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency. In a briefing on Sunday, South Korea’s ministry of land, infrastructure and transport reported that the control tower had warned of birds in the area just before the plane landed, Yonhap reported.
