SEOUL: Transportation safety authorities from the United States have committed to aiding South Korea in investigating the causes of a tragic Jeju Air crash that resulted in the loss of 179 lives. The announcement was made by a U.S. official on Monday, following the accident involving a Boeing 737-800 aircraft that occurred early Sunday.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the incident took place when Jeju Air flight 7C2216 veered off the runway during a belly-landing and collided with a fence at Muan International Airport in Muan County, approximately 290 kilometers southwest of Seoul. The crash claimed the lives of 179 individuals, with only two survivors.
In an email statement to Yonhap News Agency, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) confirmed the formation of a collaborative team with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) to support the South Korean investigation. "The NTSB is leading a team of U.S. investigators, which includes the FAA and Boeing, to assist the Republic of Korea's Aviation and Railway Accident Investigation Board (ARAIB) with their investigation into the Dec. 29 Jeju Air crash," Donnell Evans, a communications official at the FAA, stated.
A representative from South Korea's ARAIB, which operates under the transport ministry, indicated that the flight data recorder retrieved from the wreckage had sustained damage. "If we have difficulty decoding it here, then we may have to send it to the NTSB," the official noted, highlighting the potential complexity and duration of the analysis process due to the NTSB's global caseload.
The crash is the deadliest aviation disaster South Korea has experienced since a Korean Air crash in Guam in 1997, which resulted in 225 fatalities.