South Korea’s government had on Monday, said it will extend the shutdown of Muan International Airport by one week to January 14, giving the ongoing investigation into the crash of a Jeju Air jet as its reason. Recall that the air crash had killed 179 passengers on board.
The airport had been scheduled to reopen on Tuesday after the December 29 crash.
Presently, a joint investigation team is stepping up the probe into what has become South Korea’s deadliest air accident. Two of the Korean investigators are set to leave for the United States with flight data recorders for analysis with the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board on Monday.
The flight data recorders, along with cockpit voice recorders, are the two black boxes that contain vital information regarding the crash.
On Saturday, investigators compiled the complete transcript from the cockpit voice recorder recovered from the wreckage of the Jeju Air Boeing 737-800. It is not clear whether they will reveal the details of the transcript.
Investigators also retrieved two of the plane’s engines over the weekend, as a representative from engine maker GE joined the investigation.
The transport ministry additionally extended its inspections of all the Boeing 737-800 planes operated by Jeju Air and five other airlines in the country to January 10 including their maintenance records.
