South Korea’s parliament has launched a probe into the cause of the crash of a Jeju Air flight last year that claimed 179 lives, as per Yonhap News Agency.
A special parliamentary committee comprised of 18 members of the National Assembly began the investigation, which will run for at least 40 days.
The committee plans to look closely into factors that may have caused the crash, including a bird strike and possible aircraft defects.
Additionally, the committee will scrutinize whether there were any attempts to cover up details during the government's investigation into the crash.
On December 29 of the previous year, the Jeju Air aircraft returning from Bangkok caught fire after colliding with a concrete mound while attempting an emergency belly landing at Muan International Airport, approximately 290 kilometers south of Seoul, following a bird strike. Only two crew members survived.
The South Korean Aviation and Railway Accident Investigation Commission (ARI) of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport had published a preliminary report containing the results of the investigation on the 27th January.
According to the Korea Aerospace Research Institute, the pilot of the accident plane sent a mayday (emergency declaration) due to the bird strike 6 seconds after the black box recording stopped, and increased the altitude and made a go-around.
The pilot, who was attempting a go-around, landed on the Runway 19, opposite Runway 01, without lowering the landing gear. Afterwards, he collided with the azimuth facility, causing a fire and explosion.
However, the family members of the victims have expressed opposition against the government investigation, raising questions about its transparency and credibility and calling for an independent probe, the report added.
Earlier this month, a group of bereaved families protested by shaving their heads in response to the government's interim probe findings, questioning the credibility of the investigation and advocating for an independent review.
A transport ministry investigation committee is scheduled to conduct a two-day hearing starting Thursday to reveal interim results related to the catastrophic incident that occurred on December 29 of last year at Muan International Airport.
A collective of victims' families, along with various civic organizations, staged a protest outside the presidential office in central Seoul, claiming the committee lacks transparency.
"The transport ministry has presented the disaster as being managed effectively while suppressing all information through 'self-investigation' and a 'black-out investigation' by the committee," stated Kim Yoo-jin, the leader of the bereaved families' group.
The group has called for the investigation to be overseen by an independent entity under the prime minister's office and for the hearing to be postponed, asserting that the probe cannot be trusted since the committee operates under the transport ministry, which manages aviation policies.
During the protest, five individuals shaved their heads, with some participants later clashing with police as they attempted to gain entry to the presidential office to meet President Lee Jae Myung.
The accident aircraft is a B737-800 (registration number HL8088), manufactured by Boeing in the United States. It was first delivered to Ryanair, the European low-cost carrier (LCC), on September 4, 2009, and then leased to Jeju Air on February 3, 2017.
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