South Korean authorities began handing over the bodies of plane crash victims to their families on Tuesday, as investigators raced to determine why the Jeju Air Boeing 737-800 landed and burst into flames.
American investigators, including those from Boeing, arrived at the crash site southwest of Muan, officials said, as South Korean authorities began evaluating two black boxes recovered from the burned wreckage of the plane.
The plane was carrying 181 people from Thailand to South Korea when it made a distress call and landed upside down before crashing into a barrier and bursting into flames. Everyone on board Jeju Air Flight 2216 died, except for two flight attendants who were rescued from the wreckage.
South Korea is observing seven days of mourning, with flags flying at half-mast.
Acting President Choi Sang-mok, who has only been in office since Friday, said the accident was a “turning point” for the country and called for a complete review of aviation safety systems.
He urged officials to “thoroughly re-examine the overall aircraft operating system…and immediately address any necessary improvements.”
“Today marks the last day of 2024,” he said Tuesday, urging citizens to “reflect on the past year and prepare for the new one.”
“I am well aware that whenever challenges arose, both nationally and internationally, all citizens and public officials came together with one heart and mind to overcome these crises.”
‘Pray for eternal peace’
At Muan airport, investigators combed through the mangled fuselage and soldiers carefully walked through the fields around the airport on Tuesday, as people left ritual offerings for the victims, including food and letters, near the airport perimeter.
“Captain, first officer and crew members, thank you very much for doing everything you could to save the passengers. I pray for your eternal rest,” said a letter left on the fence.
Inside the airport, where relatives of the victims have been camped since Sunday, waiting for information, anger was growing over the delays in identifying the passengers of the crashed plane.
But officials said they had begun handing over the first bodies to relatives, even as work continued to identify all the victims.
“Of the 179 victims, the bodies of four have completed handover procedures to their grieving families for funerals,” Transport Minister Park Sang-woo said at Muan airport on Tuesday.
“For 28 victims, whose identities have been confirmed and autopsies completed, we will allow funeral procedures to begin today from 10:00 a.m. (05:00 GMT) with the consent of their families,” he added.
A family lost nine members, including the oldest passenger on the plane, who was on his first trip abroad to celebrate his birthday, the local station reported. KBC reported.
The passenger, surnamed Bae, was traveling with his wife, two daughters, a son-in-law and four grandchildren, including a five-year-old boy.
The entire family was killed, and only one of the daughter’s husbands, who could not join the trip, was left behind to deal with the loss of his wife and three children.
“Yesterday, the village chief went to Muan airport and said that his son-in-law was completely desperate, saying, ‘I should have gone with them and died with them.’” KBC saying.
Altars have been erected in memory of the victims across the country, including Seoul. At Muan airport, families on Tuesday supervised the installation of a new altar, with black and white funeral flowers filling the area.
Black box analysis
A more complete account of what went wrong in the final moments of the flight is expected once authorities have analyzed the black boxes.
“As for the black box, the cleaning of surface contamination at the test and analysis center has been completed and its condition is currently being evaluated,” said Vice Minister of Civil Aviation Joo Jong-wan.
“However, the flight data recorder’s data storage unit is still under evaluation,” he said, as it was found to be missing a connector.
Technical reviews are underway to determine how to extract the data.
