Wreckage of Jeju Air Co. Flight 2216. at Muan International Airport in Muan County, South Korea on Monday, December 30, 2024.
SeongJoon Cho | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Boeing shares fell nearly 5% in premarket trading on Monday after South Korea ordered an inspection of all B737-800 planes, the model involved in the fatal Jeju Air crash over the weekend.
Acting President Choi Sang-mok told the Ministry of Transport to conduct an urgent safety inspection of the country’s entire airline operating systemwhile officials from the Ministry of Lands, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) said they would conduct a “comprehensive special inspection of the B737-800.”
New York-listed Boeing shares fell 4.7% in premarket trading before paring losses 4% lower as of 6:10 a.m. ET.
Uncertainty surrounds the exact circumstances of the crash that killed 179 of the 181 people on the flight on Sunday. The plane landed without proper equipment at Muan International Airport in South Korea, skidded off the runway and hit an exterior wall before bursting into flames. Two crew members survived and were pulled from the wreckage.
At a briefing on Monday, MOLIT said the plane’s pilot mentioned a “bird strike”, minutes after the airport’s control tower issued a bird activity warning. The pilot also notified the control tower of “landing,” referring to the aborted landing attempt, and declared “May,” said Yu Kyung-soo, director of aviation security policy at MOLIT, according to NBC News Translation.
Two black boxes were recovered from the aircraft and sent for analysis. The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board, meanwhile, is leading a team of U.S. investigators, including the Federal Aviation Administration and Boeing, to help South Korea’s Air and Railroad Accident Investigation Board investigate the crash.
Jeju Air Boeing 737-800 on the runway at Tokyo’s Narita Airport in 2017.
Sopa Images | Lightrocket | Getty Images
MOLIT officials said on Monday that they are investigating the connection between the concrete wall the plane hit and the accident.
They also said they would conduct a “comprehensive special inspection of the B737-800 model.”
Boeing’s popular narrow-body aircraft has been in service for nearly three decades, and development has preceded it problematic jets B737-Max of the American manufacturerlater iteration of the model.
The B737-800 is widely used by South Korean low-cost carriers, MOLIT said on Monday, with Jeju Air the largest carrier with 39 aircraft. Other operators include T’way Air, Jin Air, Eastar Jet and Air Incheon, while national carrier Korean Air has two models.
“We will examine compliance with various regulations, including operational records, inspections and pre- and post-flight maintenance,” Ju Jong-wan, director of MOLIT’s Aviation Policy Office, said Monday, according to a translation by NBC News.
“We plan to review the increased regulations regarding bird strikes, identified as a potential cause of accidents, especially for new airports under construction.”
CNBC has reached out to Boeing for comment.
Local media reported that another Jeju Air plane of the same model returned to South Korea’s Gimpo airport shortly after takeoff on Monday after reporting problems with its landing gear.
At a press briefing on Sunday, the head of Jeju Air’s management support office, Song Kyung-hoon, said the airline would support the victims and their families and that the plane was covered by $1 billion in insurance, according to the news page Yonhap.
Song also denied that mechanical failures or inadequate safety preparations played a role in the accident.
“This accident is not related to any maintenance issues. There can be absolutely no compromise when it comes to aircraft maintenance,” Song said.
Shares of Jeju Air fell to an all-time low on Monday, according to FactSet data, and closed 8.65% lower.
— CNBC’s Yeo Boon Ping contributed to this story.
