MUAN, South Korea – South Korean authorities began recovering the wreckage of the Jeju Air plane that crashed five days ago, killing 179 people in the country’s deadliest aviation disaster, AFP reporters observed on Friday (Jan 3).
The flight, carrying 181 passengers and crew from Thailand to South Korea, issued a mayday call on Sunday before belly-landing and crashing into a barrier.
All passengers and crew died, except for two flight attendants.
The exact cause of the crash remains unclear, though investigators are considering factors such as a bird strike, faulty landing gear, and a runway installation that the plane struck.
Using a large yellow crane, investigators began lifting parts of the burned wreckage, including what appeared to be an engine.
“Today, we will lift the tail section of the plane with a crane,” said Na Won-ho, head of investigations for the South Jeolla provincial police, at a press conference at Muan International Airport, the crash site. “We expect to find remains in that section,” he added.
Na further noted that they expect the recovery efforts to continue until tomorrow to complete the process.
While all 179 victims have been identified, some bodies have been released to their families for burial.
However, due to the severity of the crash, officials have warned that some bodies sustained extreme damage, complicating the identification process and requiring additional time to preserve the crash site evidence.