South Korean police raid Muan airport following fatal crash

Police in South Korea have raided the airport of Muan following a deadly plane crash on site that killed almost all passengers aboard the aircraft last weekend, the Yonhap news agency reported Monday.

The office of low-cost airline Jeju Air, which operated the crashed Boeing 737-800, was also searched as part of a warrant based on accusations of negligence resulting in death, according to the report.

Police have also barred Jeju Air boss Kim E Bae from leaving the country, as they consider him to be a key witness in the case, Yonhap reported separately.

A total of 179 people were killed when the Boeing 737-800 skidded along the runway at Muan airport in south-west South Korea without its landing gear deployed, eventually crashing into a concrete wall and going up in flames.

Two crew members survived the crash landing.

The aircraft’s pilots had reported a bird strike just before the crash.

However it remains unclear how the collision could have impacted the plane’s landing gear.

Apart from two Thai nationals, all aboard the plane, which had been en route from Bangkok to Muan, were Korean citizens.

Korean investigators are at the scene to uncover the cause of the accident, aided by US investigators and US aircraft manufacturer Boeing representatives.

The plane’s flight recorders have since been recovered and data from the cockpit voice recorder transmitted.

The second recorded was damaged in the crash and is to be further examined in the US.

Questions have also arisen regarding the concrete barrier at the end of the runway that protects a system that helps pilots land, with some experts saying it had not been necessary and possibly exacerbated the crash.

South Korean authorities have also launched an investigation into Boeing 737-800 aircraft used by domestic airlines.