South Korea will release by Monday a preliminary report on the December 29 Jeju Air 089590.KS plane crash that killed 179 people.
The report will be sent to the International Civil Aviation Organization as well as the United States, France and Thailand, the ministry said in a statement.
Deadliest Air Disaster In South Korea
The South Korean Transport ministry described the plane crash as the deadliest air disaster on the nation’s soil.
The Transport ministry recently said that a shutdown of Muan airport has been extended till April 18.
Jeju Air 089590.KS Flight 7C2216 was en route from Bangkok when it touched down without deploying its landing gear, veered off a runway and slammed into a wall at Muan International Airport, South Korea’s Transport Ministry said.
Much of the crash was captured on video.
The flight was carrying 179 passengers and six crew members.
Two people were found alive, a Muan fire official said.
Video Of The Aircraft
Video shared by local media showed the twin-engine aircraft skidding down the runway with no apparent landing gear before slamming into a wall in an explosion of flame and debris.
Other photos showed smoke and fire engulfing parts of the plane.
Cause Of The Mishap
Yonhap cited airport authorities as saying the landing gear may have malfunctioned due to a bird strike.
Bird strike is among several theories that have not been verified, an official from South Korea transport ministry’s aviation department said.
The plane was a Boeing 737-800 jet operated by Jeju Air.
Mourning And Emergency Meeting
South Korean acting President Choi Sang-mok, who visited the crash spot, announced a weeklong period of mourning.
His chief of staff convened an emergency meeting.
Recent Air Disasters
The incident comes days after the Christmas crash of Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 8432 in Kazaksthan.
Officials in Baku say a Russian missile was fired at Flight 8432 during drone activity above Grozny, and the shrapnel hit the Embraer 190 plane as the missile exploded next to the aircraft mid-flight.
In July 2014, Malaysian Airlines flight MH17, on the way from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, was shot down by a Russian SAM while overflying eastern Ukraine.
