South Korean police said they had raided Muan airport and the Jeju Air office on Thursday over the crash involving one of the company’s Boeing 737-800s that killed 179 people.
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“In relation to the plane accident that occurred on December 29, a search and seizure operation is being conducted from 9am on January 2 at three locations,” including Muan, the Jeju Air office in Seoul, plus a regional aviation office, police said in a statement.
The operation came as South Korea’s acting president Choi Sang-mok said on Thursday immediate action must be taken if a special inspection of all Boeing 737-800 aircraft operated in the country finds any issues as authorities ramp up a probe into the crash.
The conversion of data from the Jeju Air 7C2216 cockpit voice recorder to audio file should be completed by Friday, Choi told a disaster management meeting, which could provide critical information on the final minutes of the doomed flight.
All 175 passengers and four of six crew members were killed on Sunday when the Jeju Air jet belly-landed at Muan airport in the country’s southwest and slammed into an earth-and-concrete embankment, bursting into flames.
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Two crew members, located near the tail of the Boeing 737-800, survived.