South Korea’s acting leader orders inspection of airline systems after country’s worst air disaster By Reuters

SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea’s Acting President Choi Sang-mok on Monday ordered an emergency safety inspection of the country’s entire airline operation system once recovery from the Jeju Air crash is completed.

South Korea’s deadliest air crash on Sunday killed 179 people when a plane belly-landed and skidded off the end of a runway, erupting into a fireball as it slammed into a wall at Muan International Airport.

For now, the top priority is to identify the victims, support their families and treat the two survivors, for whom no available resources should be spared, Choi told a disaster management meeting in Seoul.

“Even before the final results are released, we request that officials transparently disclose the accident investigation process and immediately inform the families of the victims,” ​​he said.

“As soon as the accident recovery is carried out, the Ministry of Transport is requested to conduct an emergency safety inspection of the entire aircraft operation system to prevent the recurrence of aircraft accidents,” he said.

Jeju Air flight 7C2216, arriving from the Thai capital Bangkok with 175 passengers and six crew members on board, had been trying to land since 9am (0000 GMT) on Sunday at the airport in the south of the country.

Two crew members survived and were treated for injuries.

Investigators are looking into bird strikes and weather as possible factors in the crash, fire officials said.Many questions remain, including why the plane was going so fast and why the landing gear didn’t land when it was skidding. off the runway and into the wall.