South Korea's Muan turns into a mass funeral after a fatal plane crash | Airplane

Muan, South Korea – Muan International Airport looks like any other airport during the holidays. The car park is packed with hundreds of cars while the departure and arrival gates are busy.

Yet it is unlike any other airport, and there is no holiday spirit on display. It has been two days since the airport stopped all its operations after the fatal accident of a passenger plane on Sunday that left only two people out of the 181 passengers in total. Jeju Air Flight 2216 from Thailand to South Korea crashed into a concrete barrier and quickly burst into flames after making an emergency belly landing on Muan runway.

Inside the airport, in the country's South Jeolla province, is a sea of ​​people dressed in black, similar to a South Korean funeral. Families and friends hug each other, amid tears and wails of grief.

They are waiting to receive the remains of their loved ones, to be reunited with them for the last time.

Ki Hwe-man, 37, traveled more than five hours from the northern city of Paju after hearing that his uncle was one of the victims of the plane crash. He remembers his late uncle as a man of faith and a friend.

“I used to kick football when I was young, and my uncle used to visit home to see us. “He was the only adult during our family gatherings who came to play with the children,” Ki recalled. “He was always bright and a great role model. He is the person I aspire to be one day.”

While close family members of the victims have been living at the airport in tents and makeshift benches since Sunday, scores of relatives and close friends from across the country began gathering at the airport the next day to mourn with them.

Of the 179 dead, five victims have not yet been identified.

Many of the passengers were on vacation in Thailand, including 41 members of a trip to Bangkok sold by a local tour company. The oldest person was 78 years old and the youngest was three years old.

“Just the day before my sister left, he visited my mother's house in Gwangju to give her Christmas presents,” recalled a middle-aged man getting some fresh air outside the airport, who lost his sister and brother-in-law. crash. “After making her try on new clothes, she told my mother that she would be back soon.”

He remembers that his younger sister was the one who brought the family together after his father's death last year.

“He is the one who suggested our trip to Yeosu this past summer and Daecheon in the fall. He took care of our sick father in his last days. We took courage from him,” he said before leaving, overcome with emotion.

A period of mourning has been declared across the country for seven days as memorials have been set up in cities across the country. Less than 10km (6.2 miles) from Muan Airport, a memorial altar was erected at the city's stadium to honor the victims.

Jeon Myung-hwan came down from Seoul to say goodbye to his best friend.

“My friend and his wife were on their retirement journey, and we talked on the phone last week. We talked about taking our trip soon,” Jeon told Al Jazeera with a trembling voice.

Having met in middle school in their hometown of Gwangyang just a few hours east of Muan, the two friends got together at least once a year with their other friends.

We even got married at the same time, so our families often met and went on trips together. He was gentle and quiet, but he always cared for others like a brother,” Jeon recalled.

Since his friend's wife has not been identified by the search efforts at the airport, his name is not on the funeral altar with the names of the other victims.

“It is sad to see that my friend is not next to his wife at the altar,” said Jeon. “I hope he is at peace in heaven next to his wife.”

On Tuesday, after two full days of recovery efforts, the families were able to start the funeral as the first bodies were brought back. However, families at the airport expressed dismay at the slow response of the authorities and expressed concern about gaps in their leadership.

Park Han-shin, representing the families, even told reporters gathered at Muan Airport that he “can no longer fully trust the authorities” after he said they were too busy blaming each other.

South Korea is currently being led by a third president in less than a month. President Yoon Suk Yeol was removed from his position as president following his declaration of martial law earlier this month. Prime Minister Han Duk-soo, who was next in line, was voted out of office after just two weeks, leaving Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok to deal with the country's crises, a divided political arena, and the current historic recession. acting president.

Choi's order for an urgent safety inspection of the country's entire airline operation includes a special inspection of all 101 Boeing 737-800 planes – the model involved in Sunday's crash – operated by South Korean airlines, focusing on record keeping of critical parts.

Although it has been suggested that bird strikes are the main cause of the accident, experts have doubted that this theory is the only cause of the accident. The plane's cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder have been collected by authorities for further analysis.

During their investigation, South Korean officials will have to look into questions such as the speed of the plane when it landed, its jackets not opening, the thrust reversers working and the landing gear not working. Locals in Muan reported hearing an explosion from the plane before it made an emergency landing.

As a result, much of the public's attention is focused on Jeju Air, the airline.

Executives at the low-cost car company bowed low and issued an apology to the public at a press conference hours after the plane crash on Sunday. Named after Jeju Island, the airline is South Korea's first and largest budget airline. Among the various concerns is the overuse of the airline during the peak holiday travel season. The plane that crashed in Jeju on Sunday was found to have operated 13 flights in the 48 hours before the incident, according to Yonhap News Agency, citing industry sources.

Local media also highlighted online posts in the past believed to be written by former and current Jeju Air employees. Posting on the anonymous Internet site Blind, the article last year said the company's efforts to “save maintenance costs” had resulted in “four incidents of engine failure while in flight.” Another document, which may have been written by a company mechanic, asserted that “the mechanic's colleagues worked all night on top of 13 to 14 hours of work, with no time off except for lunch.”

About 68,000 Jeju Air reservations were canceled in the 24 hours after Sunday's crash.

Questions have also been raised about the concrete fence at the end of the Muan runway where the plane eventually crashed. To build a local, the incoming flight guidance instrument, the edge and the end of the runway were at least 250 meters (820 feet) apart, according to safety regulations, according to Muan airport authorities.

Back at the memorial altar in Muan, Song In-young, 61, says he visited the neighboring town of Naju to pay his respects to the victims.

“We are not related by blood [among the victims]but everyone who was on that plane I consider to be my family. Especially for people like me who went through brutal political repression in the 1980s, we feel very close to the cities in this part of the region,” he said, referring to the Gwangju massacre, which was known to have killed hundreds of people. by the army, which was in charge at the time.

“I believe in the afterlife, so I wish all the victims peace in their next journey,” said Song. “More importantly, I hope all the remaining family members can find peace as soon as possible.”