The South Korean government announced Wednesday that it will remove a concrete barrier at the end of the runway at Muan International Airport, the site of last month's Jeju Air crash.
The crash at an airport in Jeollanam Province on December 29 killed 179 people, with only two crew members in the back seats of the Boeing 737-800 surviving. Jeju Air Flight 2216 departed from Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport.
The exact cause of the crash is still unknown, but some blame the concrete embankment at the end of the airport runway.
This structure, known in the aviation industry as a localizer, is intended to help guide planes along the center of an airport runway during takeoff and landing. Video footage of the Jeju Air accident showed the plane overshooting the runway with a belly landing, colliding with a structure on landing, and the plane exploding.
Muan Airport localizer to be reinstalled “using fragile structures''
South Korea's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism announced on Wednesday, “As a result of a special safety inspection, it was found that the localizers at seven airports across the country require improvement.''
As for Muan Airport, the South Korean government plans to remove the concrete embankment and reinstall the localizer “using fragile structures.”
Another airport scheduled for a localizer makeover is Jeju International Airport, the aviation hub of South Korea's most famous vacation destination. The route from Jeju Island to Seoul's Gimpo Airport is the busiest domestic route.
Transport Minister Park Sang-woo said that when it comes to overhauling the nation's airports, priority will be given to “measures that require immediate attention.”
President Park said, “Through further investigation and consideration, we plan to establish improved measures to prevent bird strikes and an aviation safety innovation plan.''
Bird strikes are being investigated as one of the causes of the Jeju Air accident. If the plane is flying at low altitude during takeoff or landing, the jet's engine can swallow the bird, damaging the fan blades and possibly forcing the engine to shut down.
According to South Korean media reports, feathers were found in the Jeju Aircraft's engine after the crash.
South Korea's Ministry of Land and Land will also expand the runway safety zones at seven airports to 240 meters (787 feet). Muan Airport is closed until April 18, but before the Jeju Air accident there was a safety zone approximately 200 meters long.
Former South Korean airport employee found dead during interrogation
Meanwhile, a former director of the state-run Korea Airports Corporation was found dead in his home Tuesday in an apparent suicide, according to South Korean police. Song Chang-wan was the company's director from 2018 to 2022, and led the renovation of Muan International Airport, which included reinforced concrete embankments in 2020.
South Korean authorities have been under pressure to hold them accountable following the Jeju Air crash, and Transport Minister Park announced her intention to resign earlier this month. Jeju Air CEO Kim Ae-be also said the South Korean government had imposed a travel ban on Kim during its investigation, and that the airline took “full responsibility” for the accident.
The Jeju Air crash raised concerns about aviation safety in the Asian country, but South Korea has significantly improved regulations since the late 1990s.
From 1970 to 1999, Korean Air, South Korea's flag carrier, brought in consultants from American companies to improve safety standards and was notorious for causing fatal accidents. South Korea's class culture, especially in the cockpit, was thought to be one of the causes behind the country's aviation safety problems.
wd/sms (AFP, Reuters)
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