US transportation authorities to assist Korea's probe into Jeju Air crash
Fire authorities inspect the wreckage of the crashed plane at Muan International Airport in Muan County, South Jeolla Province, Dec. 29. Yonhap
Transportation safety authorities of the United States plan to help their Korean counterparts with a probe into the cause of a deadly Jeju Air plane crash that claimed 179 lives, according to a U.S. official Monday.
The accident took place early Sunday, when Jeju Air flight 7C2216 veered off the runway while belly-landing and collided with a fence at the Muan International Airport in Muan County, about 290 kilometers southwest of Seoul.
The crash of the Boeing 737-800 aircraft killed 179 people, with two others having been rescued.
In an email statement sent to Yonhap News Agency, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said it has formed a team with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) to support Korean authorities with the investigation.
"The NTSB is leading a team of U.S. investigators, that includes the FAA and Boeing, to assist the Republic of Korea's Aviation and Railway Accident Investigation Board (ARAIB) with their investigation into the Dec. 29 Jeju Air crash," Donnell Evans, a communications official at the FAA, said.
The Korean government also confirmed the participation of U.S. authorities.
"In relation to the accident investigation, the U.S. NTSB has decided to participate, and discussions are under way regarding the participation of Boeing and the engine manufacturer CFM International," Joo Jong-wan, head of the aviation policy bureau at the Korean transport ministry, said during a press briefing.
An official at Korea's ARAIB, operated under the country's transport ministry, said earlier the flight data recorder recovered from the aircraft has been damaged.
"If we have difficulty decoding it here, then we may have to send it to the NTSB," the official said. "They have cases from all over the world to analyze, so it could take quite a bit of time."
The accident marked the deadliest aviation disaster in the country since 1997, when a Korean Air plane crashed in Guam, killing 225. (Yonhap)