South Korea police search Jeju Air, airport operator over plane crash that killed 179

South Korean police said on Thursday they had raided Jeju Air and the operator of Muan International Airport as part of their investigation into Sunday’s crash that killed 179 people in the worst aviation disaster on the country’s soil.Jeju Air 7C2216, which departed the Thai capital of Bangkok for Muan in southwestern South Korea, belly-landed and overshot the regional airport’s runway, exploding into flames after hitting an embankment.Two crew members, who were sitting in the tail end of the Boeing 737-800, were pulled alive by rescuers but injured.Police investigators are searching the offices of the airport operator and the transportation ministry aviation authority in the southwestern city of Muan, as the well as office of Jeju Air in Seoul, the South Jeolla provincial police said in a media statement.Investigators plan to seize documents and materials related to the operation and maintenance of the aircraft as well as the operation of airport facilities, a police official told Reuters.A Jeju Air spokesperson said the airline is checking the situation.The airport operator company was not immediately available for comment.Questions by air safety experts on what led to the deadly explosion have focused on the embankment designed to prop up navigation equipment that they said are too rigid and too close to the end of the runway.“This rigid structure proved catastrophic when the skidding aircraft made impact,” said Najmedin Meshkati, an engineering professor at the University of Southern California, adding it was concerning that the navigation antenna was mounted on “such a formidable concrete structure, rather than the standard metal tower/pylon installation.”A probe into the Jeju Air flight is also underway involving South Korean officials and the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the aircraft’s maker, Boeing.It remains unanswered why the...