A Jeju Air flight from Seoul on Monday was forced to return after encountering a landing gear problem, just a day after South Korea’s most deadly plane crash.
The Boeing 737-800 involved in this incident was the same model as the Jeju Air plane that crashed on Sunday, killing 179 people after landing without its landing gear engaged.
Song Kyung-hoon, the head of the management support office at Jeju Air, explained that Flight 7C101, which departed from Seoul’s Gimpo International Airport for Jeju Island at around 6:37 am, returned to Gimpo at 7:25 am after a landing gear issue was detected shortly after takeoff.
He stated, “Shortly after takeoff, a signal indicating a landing gear issue was detected on the aircraft’s monitoring system. At 6:57 am, the captain communicated with ground control, and after taking additional measures, the landing gear returned to normal operation.
“However, the decision was made to return to the airport for a thorough inspection of the aircraft.”
Local media reported that 21 passengers chose not to board an alternate flight to Jeju, citing safety concerns and other reasons. Jeju Air’s fleet includes 41 planes, of which 39 are Boeing 737-800 aircraft.
In response to these incidents, the South Korean government announced plans to conduct a special inspection of all 101 Boeing 737-800 planes in operation in the country.
U.S. investigators, possibly including representatives from Boeing, are expected to join the probe into the crash. Joo Jong-wan, the head of the aviation policy bureau at the South Korean transport ministry, said they are reviewing plans to conduct a special inspection on B737-800 aircraft and will implement rigorous aviation safety inspections.
Sunday’s crash in Muan involved a Boeing 737-800 carrying 181 people from Thailand to South Korea. The plane made a mayday call and belly-landed before crashing into a barrier and bursting into flames.
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