US investigators, including from Boeing, arrived at the crash site in southwestern Muan, officials said, as South Korean authorities began assessing two black boxes retrieved from the burned-out wreckage of the aircraft.
Everyone aboard Jeju Air Flight 2216 was killed, save two flight attendants pulled from the wreckage.
Acting President Choi Sang-mok, who has only been in office since Friday, said the accident was a “turning point” for the country, calling for a full overhaul of air safety systems.
“Today marks the final day of 2024,“ he said Tuesday, urging citizens to “reflect on the past year and prepare for the new one.”
'Pray for eternal peace'
“Captain, first officer, and crew members, thank you so much for doing your best to save the passengers. I pray for your eternal rest,“ one letter left on the fence said.
But officials said they had begun releasing the first bodies to relatives, even as work to identify all victims continued.
“For 28 victims, whose identities have been confirmed and autopsies completed, we will allow funeral procedures to begin from 2 pm (0500 GMT) today with the consent of their families,“ he added.
The passenger, surnamed Bae, was travelling with his wife, his two daughters, one son in law, and four grandchildren, including a five-year-old.
“Yesterday, the village chief went to Muan Airport and said the son-in-law was in utter despair, saying, ‘I should have gone with them and died with them,‘” KBC said.
At Muan airport, families were overseeing the set-up of a new altar Tuesday, with black-and-white funeral flowers filling the area.
A fuller account of what went wrong in the flight's final moments is expected once authorities have analysed the black boxes.
“However, the flight data recorder’s data storage unit is still under evaluation,“ he said, as it was found with a missing connector.
Technical reviews are underway to determine how to extract the data.
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