By Hyunjoo Jin
SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea’s transport ministry has extended special inspections of all 101 Boeing (NYSE: ) 737-800 planes used by the country’s airlines by a week, following the country’s worst aviation disaster, a ministry official said on Friday.
The ministry launched the inspections after Sunday’s Jeju Air Boeing 737-800 crash that killed 179 people. The inspections were due to be completed on Friday but have been extended to January 10, the official told Reuters, without giving a reason.
A Jeju Air flight from Bangkok to Muan county in southwestern South Korea landed on its belly and skidded over the runway of the regional airport, exploding in flames after hitting an embankment.
The ministry said it would inspect the engines, maintenance records and landing gear on all 737-800 planes, and airline operations could be suspended for serious violations.
The transport ministry also held an emergency meeting with CEOs of 11 airlines, including top-ranked Korean Air Lines and Asiana Airlines, to discuss measures to increase aviation safety, a ministry official said.
The South Korean investigation team said on Friday that two of its members will go to the United States next week to analyze the crash flight data log in cooperation with the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).
The team also studies the plane wreckage and interviews airport control tower officials.
Investigators will analyze data on 107 cellphones found at the crash site, including text messages, to find out what happened leading up to the crash, Yonhap News said.
Acting South Korean President Choi Sang-mok on Friday urged investigators to quickly collect evidence from the crash site and analyze the tape recorder.
Unanswered questions include why the plane didn’t open the landing gear and what prompted the pilot to rush into a second landing attempt after he told air traffic control the plane had suffered a bird strike and declared an emergency.
On Thursday, police said they were searching Jeju Air and the operator of Muan International Airport and barred Jeju Air CEO Kim E-bae and another unidentified official from leaving the country.
