SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea aims to rebuild its aviation safety system from scratch, the transport ministry said on Tuesday, launching a new committee to improve air travel in the country that suffered two major aviation incidents a month apart.
“In order to restore trust in our country’s aviation safety system, the government will make a determined effort to rebuild the aviation safety system from the ground up,” Deputy Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Baek Won-kuk will tell the committee, the ministry statement said.
The government must address aviation safety as a top priority, he added.
In the deadliest air disaster ever on South Korean soil, a plane belonging to budget airline Jeju Air crashed at the country’s Muan airport on Dec. 29, killing all but two of the 181 passengers and crew members on board.
Duck remains were found in both engines of the plane, a preliminary investigation report said, indicating bird strikes occurred before the crash. Air accidents are nearly always caused by a combination of factors, according to experts.
Last week, an Air Busan plane was engulfed in flames at Busan’s international airport as the low-cost carrier’s jet prepared to depart, with all on board evacuated safely.
The fire was first detected by a flight attendant in an overhead luggage bin in the rear of the plane, Air Busan has said.
Investigations into the causes of both incidents are ongoing.
The 10-week committee will include private sector experts and will look at issues including maintenance and aircraft utilisation rates at budget airlines, and airport construction and operation.
In response to the Jeju Air crash, which saw the plane belly land but then plough into a concrete embankment supporting navigation equipment past the end of Muan’s runway, authorities already said they would amend similar structures at seven airports around the country.
(Reporting by Lisa Barrington; Editing by Jamie Freed)
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