U.S. And Boeing Investigators Examine Site Of Deadly South Korean Plane Crash
Huff PostRescue team members work at the site of a plane crash at Muan International Airport in Muan, South Korea, on Dec. 31, 2024. AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon SEOUL, South Korea — A team of U.S. investigators including representatives from Boeing have examined the site of a plane crash that killed 179 people in South Korea while authorities were conducting safety inspections on all Boeing 737-800 aircraft operated by the country’s airlines. All but two of the 181 people aboard the Boeing 737-800 operated by South Korean budget airline Jeju Air died in Sunday’s crash. Video showed the aircraft, without its landing gear deployed, crash-landed on its belly and overshoot a runaway at South Korea’s southern Muan International Airport before it slammed into concrete fence and burst into a flame. He said that would be consistent with the landing gear and wing flaps not being deployed “and might indicate a control issue which would explain the rush to get on the ground.” The Boeing 737-800 ― an earlier version of 737 than the Max ― is a widely used plane with a good safety record, according to Najmedin Meshkati, an engineering professor at the University of Southern California who has studied aviation safety.