Reinvestigation Begins into Wreckage of Jeju Air Plane from December 29 Disaster

On the 12th, National Forensic Service officials at Muan International Airport are investigating the wreckage of the Jeju Air passenger plane from the December 29 disaster. Yonhap News

The reinvestigation into the wreckage of the Jeju Air passenger plane involved in the December 29 disaster has begun, with the bereaved families in attendance.

On the 12th, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the Aviation and Railway Accident Investigation Board (ARAIB) began reinvestigation work on the wreckage of the aircraft, which is being kept in a storage area behind the airport fire station at Muan International Airport.

On this day, the reinvestigation proceeded by opening the wreckage of the aircraft that had been left on the ground, removing dust and foreign substances and checking its condition with the cooperation of 25 personnel from the National Forensic Service, and then drying, sorting, and transporting it.

The inspected wreckage is being moved sequentially into containers, while larger pieces such as the tail section of the fuselage will be stored in a separate temporary structure. About 30 bereaved family members were also present at the site to observe the investigation process.

Given the large volume of wreckage, the reinvestigation work is expected to continue for several days.

The ARAIB decided to conduct a reinvestigation in November last year, but the schedule was postponed after the bereaved families objected to guidelines that prohibited filming at the time. The work resumed on this day after an agreement was reached to allow the families to attend and to open the investigation to the media.

The wreckage subject to reinvestigation will be stored separately in four containers and in the temporary structure until the cause of the accident is fully determined.

Kim Yujin, head of the Bereaved Families Council for the December 29 Jeju Air Passenger Plane Disaster at Muan Airport, said, "It is regrettable that the wreckage, which had been left on the ground for more than a year, is only now being examined, but now that the investigation has restarted, I hope that not even the smallest clue will be overlooked, and that the cause of the accident and who is responsible will be fully and clearly identified."