Jeju Air plane turns back over landing gear issues a day after horror crash killed 179
A Jeju Air flight had to turn back after suffering a landing gear malfunction on Monday, a day after one of the airline’s Boeing jets skidded off a runway in South Korea and burst into a massive fireball, killing 179 passengers.A signal warning of a malfunction in the plane’s landing gear went off after the aircraft took off from Seoul, a spokesperson for the airline said Monday, according to Bloomberg.
While the pilot managed to fix the issue after communicating with the airline’s maintenance center, crews decided to turn the plane around for a checkup, the spokesperson said.While the spokesperson declined to say what model the plane was, Yonhap News reported it was a Boeing 737-800, the same make of the aircraft involved in Sunday’s deadly crash.
The plane returned to Seoul, landing safely around 7:20 a.m.Monday local time, according to Flightradar24 tracking data.
Passengers were then booked on alternative flights.South Korean authorities are investigating the incident, which came one day after another Jeju Air Boeing 737-800 caught on fire after landing without working landing gear.
Two crew members survived, but all others aboard are believed to be dead, officials said.The victims — including 85 women, 84 men, and 10 others who were not immediately identifiable — died in the blaze, the South Korean fire agency said.The lone pair of survivors were pulled to safety.
Officials said they were not in life-threatening condition.All passengers were South Korean nationals, except for two Thai nationals, officials said.Some 1,570 firefighters, police officers, soldiers and other rescue workers were sent to the scene following the crash.Officials are investigating theories about what caused the crash, including whether the plane struck birds.The plane’s black box has been retrieved and will be examined as part of the investigation.Transport ministry officials added that the runway at Muan airport would be closed until January 1....