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Police raid multiple sites linked to Jeju Air disaster

Published: 02 Jan. 2025, 10:54 Updated: 02 Jan. 2025, 16:46

Police take the elevator at the Busan Regional Aviation Administration on Thursday, after securing evidence related to the Dec. 29 Jeju Air crash. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

Police raided sites connected to the Dec. 29 Jeju Air crash on Thursday.

The Jeonnam Provincial Police Agency said it raided Muan International Airport, the Muan branch office of the Busan Regional Aviation Administration and the Seoul headquarters of Jeju Air at 9 a.m.

On Dec. 29, Jeju Air’s Flight 7C2216, a Boeing 737-800 returning from Bangkok, Thailand, with 181 people on board — 175 passengers and six flight attendants — caught fire after veering off the runway and colliding with a localizer.

All but two onboard were killed.

The raid occurred five days after the tragic crash. The provincial police agency had formed a 264-member investigative task force on the day of the accident.

"We will fully investigate the exact cause of the accident and determine the responsible parties in strict accordance with the law and principles," a police official said Thursday.

A police forensic team conducts an on-site investigation at the scene of the Jeju Air crash at Muan International Airport in Muan, South Jeolla, on Dec. 31. [YONHAP]

Police are securing relevant data to examine the adequacy of runway structures around the accident site, such as the localizer, the possibility of bird strikes, warnings and distress signals exchanged between the control tower and the pilot prior to the crash, as well as the maintenance history of the aircraft involved in the accident.

Police seized a box worth of materials from the Busan Regional Aviation Administration at 1 p.m.

Authorities are seeking to seize CCTV footage of the airport runway as of 3:00 p.m.

Update, Jan. 2: Added details of the progress of the raid.

BY KIM MIN-YOUNG [[email protected]]