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15 airport, government employees pulled into Jeju Air crash investigation

Published: 21 Jun. 2025, 18:44 Updated: 22 Jun. 2025, 16:35

Fire authorities inspect a site where Jeju Air's Boeing 737-800 aircraft was collided with the concrete embankment six days ago at Muan International Airport in South Jeolla. [YONHAP]

Fifteen people have been placed under investigation for alleged occupational negligence during the Jeju Air crash last December, the Jeonnam Provincial Police said Saturday.

The police are looking into potential infringements by employees of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport as well as Korea Airports Corporation and other companies involved in the construction of localizers at Muan International Airport in South Jeolla — the site of the crash.

On Dec. 29 of last year, Jeju Air’s plane arrived from Bangkok, Thailand, and collided with a concrete structure, killing 179 people on board and injuring two cabin crew members. After the crash, duck feathers were discovered on both sides of the engine.

As of Saturday, the police department has opened investigations into 24 people in total, focused on whether they failed to fulfill their duties in air traffic control, avian control near the runway and construction of the concrete structure. Those under scrutiny include Land Minister Park Sang-woo and Jeju Air CEO Kim E-bae.

The police determined that installing the concrete structure at the end of tarmac was a “material legal violation.”

The investigation has so far found that air traffic controllers did not carefully monitor birds’ movement and did not properly notify pilots. The ministry's guidelines mandate that air traffic controllers provide information about avian movement, when it is spotted, for at least 15 minutes. It also found that the airport’s bird control personnel had poorly conducted the preventative measures required to ensure birds stayed away from the airport.

The Jeonnam Provincial Police plan to examine whether to arrest and detain the suspects.

On the same day, a committee representing the bereaved families of victims demanded that the Korea Aviation and Railway Accident Investigation Board disclose data from the plane's flight recorders, or black box, and damaged parts of engine during a news conference at Muan International Airport. They also asked the board to remain independent from the Transport Ministry.

BY KIM JI-HYE [[email protected]]