SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A squad of U.S. investigators including representatives from Boeing person examined nan tract of a plane crash that killed 179 group successful South Korea while authorities were conducting information inspections connected each Boeing 737-800 craft operated by nan country’s airlines.
All but 2 of nan 181 group aboard nan Boeing 737-800 operated by South Korean fund hose Jeju Air died successful Sunday’s crash. Video showed nan aircraft, without its landing cogwheel deployed, crash-landed connected its belly and overshoot a runaway astatine South Korea’s confederate Muan International Airport earlier it slammed into actual obstruction and burst into a flame.
The level was seen having an motor trouble, and preliminary examinations besides opportunity nan pilots received a vertebrate onslaught informing from nan crushed power halfway and issued a distress awesome arsenic well. But galore experts opportunity nan landing cogwheel rumor was apt nan main origin of nan crash.
The South Korean authorities has launched information inspections connected each nan 101 Boeing 737-800s successful nan country. The Transport Ministry said authorities are looking astatine attraction and cognition records during 5 days of information checks that are to tally until Friday.
The ministry said that a delegation of 8 U.S. investigators — 1 from nan Federal Aviation Administration, 3 from National Transportation Safety Board and 4 from Boeing — made an on-site sojourn to nan clang tract connected Tuesday. The results of their introspection weren’t instantly available.
Kim E-bae, Jeju Air’s president, told reporters Tuesday that his institution will adhd much attraction workers and trim formation operations by 10-15% until March arsenic portion of efforts to heighten nan information of craft operations.
John Hansman, an aviation master astatine MIT, said nan clang was astir apt nan consequence of a problem pinch nan plane’s hydraulic power systems. He said that would beryllium accordant pinch nan landing cogwheel and helping flaps not being deployed “and mightiness bespeak a power rumor which would explicate nan unreserved to get connected nan ground.”
The Boeing 737-800 ― an earlier type of 737 than nan Max ― is simply a wide utilized level pinch a bully information record, according to Najmedin Meshkati, an engineering professor astatine nan University of Southern California who has studied aviation safety.
He said nan nonaccomplishment of nan plane’s strategy for broadcasting location, operating its landing cogwheel and extending nan helping flaps to slow down bespeak a wide problem that affected electrical and hydraulic systems. He is assured that investigators will study what went incorrect by analyzing accusation from nan formation information and cockpit sound recorders.
“These are really nan 2 pillars for mishap study and mishap reconstruction,” Meshkati said. Like different aviation experts, Meshkati besides questioned nan location of a coagulated wall conscionable a fewer 100 feet (meters) past nan extremity of nan runway, fixed that planes occasionally do overshoot runways. “Having specified a large actual obstruction complete location was really very bad luck for this peculiar airplane,” he said.
South Korean officials person said they will look into whether nan Muan airport’s localizer — a actual obstruction lodging a group of antennas designed to guideline craft safely during landings — should person been made pinch lighter materials that would break much easy upon impact.
The clang was nan deadliest disaster successful South Korea’s aviation history successful decades. A seven-day nationalist mourning has been declared until Jan. 4.
The Transport Ministry said Tuesday that authorities person identified 175 bodies and are conducting DNA tests to place nan remaining five. Bereaved families said that officials told them that nan bodies were truthful severely damaged that officials request clip earlier returning them to relatives.
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On Tuesday, Park Han Shin, a typical of nan families, accused nan authorities of failing to supply freezers connected clip arsenic promised and said location are worries that nan bodies could decompose. “The past dignities of nan victims are earnestly hurt. We powerfully knock authorities for failing to support its promise,” Park said.
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Associated Press writer David Koenig successful Dallas contributed to this report.