South Korean police raided the offices of Jeju Air and the operator of Muan International Airport on Thursday as part of their investigation into the catastrophic Boeing 737-800 disaster that killed 179 people. On Sunday, the airplane was carrying 181 passengers and crew from Thailand to South Korea when it issued a mayday call and belly-landed before colliding with a barrier, killing all save two flight attendants.

Authorities conducted search and seizure operations Thursday at Muan airport, where flight 2216 crashed, a regional aviation office in the southwestern city, and Jeju Air’s office in Seoul, according to police.

Jeju Air’s CEO, Kim E-bae, has also been barred from leaving the country while the investigation is ongoing, authorities said separately.

“The police plan to swiftly and rigorously determine the cause and responsibility for this accident in accordance with the law and principles,” police said in a statement to AFP.

On Thursday, soldiers, police, and investigators were still investigating the accident scene, while orange-robed monks led prayer rites nearby. Inside the airport, the steps were covered in colourful post-it notes from mourners.

“Honey, I miss you way too much,” one of them stated. “Even if you faced lonely and painful moments in death, may you now soar like a butterfly,” a different verse said.

“Honey, I miss you way too much,” one of them said. “Even if you faced lonely and painful moments in death, may you now soar like a butterfly,” says another verse.

Relatives also left flowers and food near the crash site, including tteokguk, a rice cake soup commonly eaten on New Year’s Day in South Korea, as they said their farewell, many of them in tears. Star chefs from Netflix’s smash hit cooking competition show “Culinary Class Wars,” including Ahn Yu-seong, joined volunteers in Muan this week to provide meals for the victims’ families.

And people all throughout the country were remotely pre-paying for coffee at the airport’s café so that victims’ families, who had been camped out in the lounge since Sunday waiting for word, could drink gratis. The land ministry said more bodies were released to families on Thursday so they could prepare for funerals. – A concrete barrier.

Officials first suspected a bird hit as the reason of the crash, but have since stated that the investigation was also looking into the role of a concrete barrier at the end of the runway. A dramatic video captured the plane colliding with it before erupting into flames.

Yonhap stated that the Muan airport warrant was approved on allegations of professional carelessness resulting in death, citing officials. “Police are securing evidence related to the legitimacy of the airport’s localizer,” Yonhap stated, referring to the concrete wall at the end of the runway that houses an antenna array. They are also looking for communication records between the control tower and the pilot soon before the plane crashed, it said.

Airports across the country were being inspected to identify more comparable localizers, according to a statement from the land ministry. Some analysts believe that the accident would have been less fatal if the installation had not been concrete.

South Korean authorities raid Jeju Air’s airport following a fatal crash. Agence France Presse January 2, 2025, 6:11 AM ET. BeLoud Share. South Korean authorities raid Jeju Air’s airport following a fatal crash. Officials investigate the location where a Jeju Air Boeing 737-800 plane crashed and exploded into flames at Muan Airport. (YONHAP/AFP) South Korean police raided the offices of Jeju Air and the operator of Muan International Airport on Thursday as part of their investigation into the catastrophic Boeing 737-800 disaster that killed 179 people. On Sunday, the airplane was carrying 181 passengers and crew from Thailand to South Korea when it issued a mayday call and belly-landed before colliding with a barrier, killing all save two flight attendants. Authorities on Thursday conducted a search.

The tragedy is the most serious aircraft disaster on South Korean territory. South Korean authorities have finished the initial extraction of data from the cockpit voice recorder, but the flight data recorder was damaged and will be sent to the United States for study, officials said Wednesday.