SEOUL/MUAN COUNTY, South Korea: South Korea ramped up investigations on Tuesday into the cause of its deadliest domestic air accident as police worked to identify victims while families of those killed in the crash of a Jeju Air jet pushed for more details.

Comments in the airport’s operating manual, uploaded early in 2024, said the embankment was too close to the end of the runway and recommended that the location of the equipment be reviewed during a planned expansion. A transport ministry official said authorities would need to check the document before replying to questions. Impatience rose on Tuesday among families gathered at the airport as they waited for the bodies of their loved ones to be released.

Inspections of all 101 B737-800s operated by South Korean airlines were set to wrap up by Jan 3, though the airport would stay closed until Jan. 7, it added in a statement. Personnel from the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), Federal Aviation Administration, and aircraft maker Boeing have joined the investigations. On Monday, South Korea’s Acting President Choi Sang-mok ordered an emergency safety inspection of the country’s entire airline operation.

Crash investigators are considering possible factors such as bird strikes and disabled control systems on the aircraft to the pilots’ apparent rush to attempt a landing soon after declaring an emergency, fire and transport officials have said. Officials have also faced questions about airport design features, particularly the large dirt-and-concrete embankment near the end of the runway used for navigation equipment.

The plane slammed into the embankment at high speed and erupted into a fireball. Bodies and body parts were thrown into surrounding fields and most of the aircraft disintegrated in flames. “Unfortunately, that thing was the reason that everybody got killed, because they literally hit a concrete structure,” Captain Ross Aimer, the chief executive of Aero Consulting Experts, told Reuters. “It shouldn’t have been there.”

Transport Ministry officials said most South Korean airports were built based on International Civil Aviation Organization rules that recommend a 240-m (262-yard) runway-end safety area. However, a domestic law allows adjusting location of some installations in a range that does not “significantly affect” the facility’s performance. “But we’ll look into whether there are any conflicts in our own regulations, and conduct an additional review of our airport safety standards,” Kim Hong-rak, director general for airport and air navigation facilities policy, told a briefing.

Muan International Airport’s Airport Operations Manual said the navigation equipment, called localizers, was installed too near the end of the runway, or just 199 m (218 yards) from the crash site. The document, prepared by Korea Airports Corp and uploaded on its website, said the airport authority should “review securing additional distance during phase two of Muan International Airport’s expansion”.

South Korean officials have previously said the structure was about 250 m (273 yards) from the end of the runway itself, though a paved apron extends past that. The runway design did not meet industry best practices, however, said John Cox, chief executive of Safety Operating Systems and a former 737 pilot, adding that they preclude any hard structure like a berm within at least 300 m (330 yards) of the end of the runway. Video showed the plane appearing to slow down and in control when it went off the runway, Cox said. “When it hits that berm is when it turns into tragedy.”

Both floors of Muan airport’s main building were still packed with bereaved relatives on Tuesday evening as many waited for the opening of an altar to pay their respects to the deceased. Others rested in hundreds of tents erected in the airport. Religious, social welfare and volunteer groups were busy supplying food and drink. – Reuters