Police raid Jeju Airlines offices after plane crash that kills 179 people in South Korea; The head of an airline company was prevented from leaving the country

South Korean police raided offices Jeju water And the operator of Muan International Airport on Thursday while intensifying the investigation into the fatal plane accident Boeing 737-800 Which killed 179 people.

The trip was bearable 181 passengers Its crew was flying from Thailand to South Korea on Sunday when it issued a mayday call and landed on its belly before crashing into a barrier, killing all on board except two flight attendants.

On Thursday, authorities carried out search and seizure operations at Muan Airport, where Flight 2216 crashed, the regional aviation office in the southwestern city, and the Jeju Air office in the capital, Seoul, police said.

Police said separately that Jeju Air CEO Kim Ee-bae has been banned from leaving the country as the investigation continues.

“The police plan to determine the cause of this accident and responsibility for it quickly and accurately in accordance with the law and principles,” the police said in a statement sent to Agence France-Presse.

At Muan Airport on Thursday, soldiers, police and investigators in white suits were still combing the accident site, while monks dressed in orange held a prayer ceremony nearby.

Inside the airport, the stairs were covered in colorful notes left by mourners.

“Honey, I miss you so much,” someone said.

Another wrote: “Even if you face lonely and painful moments in death, I hope you now fly like a butterfly.”

Relatives also left flowers and food near the accident site, including tteokok – a rice cake soup traditionally enjoyed in South Korea on New Year’s Day – as many of them bid a tearful farewell.

Star chefs featured in Netflix’s mega-cooking competition “Culinary Class Wars,” including Ahn Yu-seong, joined volunteers at Muan this week to prepare meals for the victims’ families.

People across the country were pre-paying for coffee remotely at an airport café so families of the victims, who had been camped out in the terminal since Sunday, waiting for news, could drink for free.

The Lands Ministry said that more bodies were delivered on Thursday to their families in preparation for funerals.

Officials initially cited bird strikes as a possible cause of the accident, and have since said the investigation is also examining the role of the concrete barrier at the end of the runway.

A dramatic video clip showed the plane colliding with it before it burst into flames.

An arrest warrant was approved at Muan Airport on charges of professional negligence resulting in death, Yonhap reported, citing officials.

“The police are working to secure evidence related to the legitimacy of the airport’s GPS device,” Yonhap said, referring to the concrete wall at the end of the runway that includes a group of antennas.

She added that they are also looking for records of communication between the control tower and the pilot shortly before the plane crash.

The Ministry of Lands said in a statement that airports across the country are being inspected to verify similar local locations.

Some experts have suggested that the disaster may have been less deadly if the installation had not been so tangible.

“The key to unlocking this mystery”

South Korea also announced that it will inspect all Boeing 737-800 aircraft operated by its airlines, focusing on the landing gear, which appeared to have malfunctioned during Sunday’s crash.

Choi Sang-mok, South Korea’s acting president, said Thursday that “immediate action” must be taken if this investigation reveals any problems with the plane model.

The authorities said earlier that 101 aircraft of the same type were operating with six different airlines.

“Since there is great public concern about the same aircraft model involved in the accident, the Ministry of Transport and related agencies should conduct a comprehensive operation maintenance inspection, education and training,” Choi said on Thursday.

The accident is the worst aviation disaster on South Korean soil.

South Korean authorities have completed the initial data extraction of the cockpit voice recorder, but the flight data recorder was damaged and was scheduled to be sent to the United States for analysis, officials said Wednesday.

Investigators say it was not possible to decrypt the damaged flight data recorder locally, which was missing a critical connector. BBC News reported.

“I think the cockpit voice recorder, if they can read that, will be key to unraveling this mystery,” Robert Sumwalt, former head of the National Transportation Safety Board, told CBS News.

Jeju Airlines said the accident was not due to “any maintenance issues,” according to South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency and aviation expert Jeffrey Thomas. He told BBC News That South Korean airlines are generally considered to follow “industry best practices” and that the plane and Jeju Airlines have an “excellent safety record.”