US sends investigators to help establish cause of South Korea plane crash

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 into a barrier early on Sunday, killing 179, Report informs via The Guardian.

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 US 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 onboard.

As of Sunday evening, local time, 179 of 181 people onboard 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.

The pilot then sent out a “mayday” signal and made one attempt to land. On the second attempt, the plane landed on its belly, and skidded before hitting a barrier and and going up in flames.

“It is presumed to have been a bird strike. Smoke came out of one of the engines and then it exploded,” a surviving crew member said in a witness report, Yonhap reported.

Jeju Air flight 2216 had 181 people onboard, including 175 passengers, four flight attendants and two pilots.