Localizers at seven of 13 Korean airports pose safety risks, gov't inspection finds after Jeju Air crash

Home > National > Social Affairs

print dictionary print

Localizers at seven of 13 Korean airports pose safety risks, gov't inspection finds after Jeju Air crash

One of the plane engines of the Jeju Air crash is transported on a truck from the site of the accident at Muan International Airport on Jan. 4, seven days after the accident. [NEWS1]

One of the plane engines of the Jeju Air crash is transported on a truck from the site of the accident at Muan International Airport on Jan. 4, seven days after the accident. [NEWS1]

 
The government said Monday that localizer structures at seven of 13 airports inspected from Jan. 2 to 8 require improvements for safety reasons.  
 
After the tragic Jeju Air crash of Dec. 29 at Muan International Airport in South Jeolla, the Ministry of Land, Interior and Transport has been taking measures to prevent similar accidents by inspecting structural problems at airports nationwide and improving training manuals.  
 

Related Article

On-site inspections covered 32 localizers, 51 glide path stations and sets of distance measurement equipment and 17 Very High Frequency Omni-directional Range (VOR) stations across 13 airports.
 
VOR is a type of radio navigation tool that has been used since the 1950s.
 
Muan International Airport was subject to an independent inspection. Gunsan Airport in South Jeolla, which is managed by U.S. Forces Korea, will also be inspected at a later unspecified date with their cooperation.  
 
The investigation revealed that localizer facilities at seven airports — including Muan International Airport — were constructed with hard materials such as concrete that could potentially worsen damage as they do not easily give way upon collision with aircraft.
 
Aside from Muan International Airport, Gwangju Airport, Yeosu Airport in South Jeolla and Pohang-Gyeongju Airport in North Gyeongsang had localizer structures in the form of concrete mounds.
 
At Gimhae International Airport in Busan and Sacheon Airport in South Gyeongsang, there were localizer structures with concrete bases protruding partially above ground, while Jeju International Airport had a solid structure made of H-beam steel frames.
 
Firefighters look around an accident site where Jeju Air's Boeing 737-800 crashed in Muan International Airport in South Jeolla on Jan. 12. [YONHAP]

Firefighters look around an accident site where Jeju Air's Boeing 737-800 crashed in Muan International Airport in South Jeolla on Jan. 12. [YONHAP]

The 26 localizer structures at the other seven airports were found to be buried underground.
 
The localizer facilities at Incheon and Yangyang International Airports were installed within the runway end safety area. All nine facilities at these airports were made of easily breakable materials and deemed not to pose a safety risk.
 
The Transport Ministry said that other facilities, such as glide slope facilities and distance measuring equipment, were found to pose no risk in case of a collision.
 
"In addition to navigation safety facilities, special safety inspections will be conducted on major airport facilities nationwide from today until Jan. 21,” said the ministry. “Based on the results of these special inspections, we will devise comprehensive safety measures."  
 
"In particular, we plan to establish improvement measures for directional facilities within this month and actively work to complete these improvements by the end of the year."
 
 On-site inspection of plane crash forensic experts, police investigators and firefighters work at the site of a deadly plane crash at Muan International Airport on Jan. 4. [YONHAP]

On-site inspection of plane crash forensic experts, police investigators and firefighters work at the site of a deadly plane crash at Muan International Airport on Jan. 4. [YONHAP]

 
The ministry also inspected violations related to the Boeing 737-800 (B737-800) aircraft, which was the model of the plane that crashed on Dec. 29.  
 
The ministry conducted special safety inspections on 101 B737-800 aircraft owned by six domestic airlines from Dec. 30 to Jan. 10.
 
"While inspecting the maintenance history, adherence to maintenance procedures and operational maintenance records for key systems such as landing gear and engines, we confirmed that regulations were generally being followed,” said the ministry.  
 
"Some airlines were found to have violated regulations, and we plan to take strict action in accordance with relevant laws and procedures."
 
According to regulations, international flights must undergo "pre- and post-flight inspections" within 48 hours of the departure time of the first flight. However, some airlines were found to have conducted inspections more than two hours late.
 
In one case, when the electric motor pump for a hydraulic system overheated, only one of the four required filters was replaced.
 
There was also a case where passengers began boarding before the boarding sign was activated. According to regulations, the captain must receive confirmation from the maintenance staff regarding the completion of inspections and any abnormalities before allowing passengers to board.
 
Authorities investigate and clean the Jeju Air crash site at Muan International Airport in South Jeolla on Jan. 8. [YONHAP]

Authorities investigate and clean the Jeju Air crash site at Muan International Airport in South Jeolla on Jan. 8. [YONHAP]

 
The ministry is also considering incorporating training for situations where more than two engines stop into regular training manuals, including procedures for responding to bird strikes in pre-flight briefings.  
 
The Busan Metropolitan Police Agency said Monday they arrested a man in his 20s and another in his 40s on charges of defamation. They are accused of posting mocking or insulting comments, such as remarks about compensation, aimed at the families of the victims on online forums.
 
Since the disaster on Dec. 29, malicious online posts targeting the victims and their families have continued to appear. In response, the police deployed a dedicated task force of 118 personnel from cyber investigation units in 16 police agencies nationwide.
 
The Busan Metropolitan Police Agency has been investigating at least four cases of malicious posts and comments assigned to it by the National Police Agency since early this month.

BY KIM MIN-YOUNG [[email protected]]
Log in to Twitter or Facebook account to connect
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
help-image Social comment?
s
lock icon

To write comments, please log in to one of the accounts.

Standards Board Policy (0/250자)