South Korean police raided Muan International Airport and Jeju Air’s offices just days after the airline’s horror crash that killed 179 passengers.
On Thursday, Jeonanam provincial police launched a search and seizure operation at South Korea’s southwestern airport and the airline’s office in Seoul.
Authorities also swarmed to the Muan office of the Busan Regional Office of Aviation, Yonhap News Agency reported.
Police said in a statement to AFP: “In connection with the plane crash that occurred on December 29, a search and seizure operation will be carried out at three locations from January 2 at 9am.”
According to police, police served a search warrant alleging professional negligence resulting in death.
The search comes after a 15-year-old Jeju Airline Boeing 737-800 was torn apart and caught fire on the Muan Airport runway on Sunday.
A total of 179 people were killed that day when a plane with 181 passengers on board skidded off the runway and crashed into a wall while landing.
A plane with 181 people on board crashed into a wall at Muan International Airport in South Korea, Yonhap news agency reported on Sunday.
Rescue workers take part in a recovery operation at the site where a plane crashed after going off the runway at Muan International Airport, in Muan, South Korea – December 29, 2024
People listen at Muan International Airport as an official announces the additional names of passengers who died in the horror plane crash
South Korea’s emergency agency said the plane’s landing gear apparently malfunctioned, with a bird hitting the plane among the possible causes of the crash.
There were wails in the airport arrivals hall as families cried loudly as a medic announced the names of 22 dead passengers. They were identified by their fingerprints.
The death toll includes at least 82 men and 83 women, according to the National Fire Agency.
Two crew members, a man and a woman, were miraculously rescued from the tail section of the burning aircraft.
The fiery crash was one of the deadliest disasters in South Korea’s aviation history.