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Localizer in Jeju Air crash was regulation compliant when built, says transport minister

Published: 09 Jan. 2025, 18:27 Updated: 09 Jan. 2025, 18:39

SEO JI-EUN
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Officials work at the site of a deadly plane crash at Muan International Airport in South Jeolla on Dec. 30, 2024. A Jeju Air passenger plane crashed into a localizer, a navigation system that assists in aircraft landings, has been blamed for exacerbating the severity of casualties in the crash on Dec. 29 that killed all but two of the 181 people onboard. [NEWS1]

Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Park Sang-woo reiterated Thursday that the localizer at Muan International Airport in South Jeolla, widely blamed for exacerbating the deadly Jeju Air plane crash, was installed in compliance with the regulations at the time of construction.

"The facility was built according to the construction regulations in place at the time," Park said in response to Democratic Party Rep. Lee Geon-tae during the National Assembly's emergency questioning on Thursday afternoon.

Park explained that in 1999, when the facility was designed, there was no requirement for localizers to be made from brittle materials.

Park said the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) introduced a new standard of aerodrome operations in 2010.

Park also noted that similar discrepancies exist at other airports across the country.

"We will take swift action to address these issues and upgrade the facilities as needed," he said.

BY SEO JI-EUN [[email protected]]