As family members of those who lost lives in the South Korean plane crash search for answers, a team of US investigators including representatives from Boeing examined the site of the accident.
After the task force meeting on Monday, the authorities decided to conduct safety inspections on all Boeing 737-800 aircraft operated by Jeju Air.
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As many as 179 people onboard Jeju Air's Boeing 737-800 were killed in Sunday's crash. The video of the accident showed that the aircraft landing without its landing gear deployed, crash-landed on its belly and overshot a runaway at Muan International Airport before it burst into a flame.
The initial examinations revealed that the pilot had made a 'mayday' call to the ground support team and also reported a bird strike warning. However, the experts pointed out that the landing gear issue was likely the main cause of the crash.
While addressing a press conference on Tuesday, Jeju Air CEO Kim E-Bae apologised to the bereaved families and took full responsibility for the incident.
However, he also added that no safety issues were flagged in pre-flight checks before the plane took off. "We will repair trust by strengthening the safety measures," said Kim.
Jeju Air will be reducing the winter air traffic by 10-15 per cent in order to carry out maintenance work. Also, the airline is preparing emergency compensation for victims' families and will cover funeral costs.
Meanwhile, the investigators are analysing the flight data and the cockpit voice recorders recovered from the crash site.
The Transport Ministry has identified 175 bodies and is conducting DNA tests to identify the remaining. Amid the political turmoil in South Korea, the bereaved families alleged that the government is failing to provide freezers on time as promised and they expressed their worry over the decomposition of the bodies.
