South Korean authorities began releasing the bodies of plane crash victims to families on Tuesday, as investigators raced to determine why the Jeju Air Boeing 737-800 crash landed and burst into flames.
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, reports AFP.
The plane was carrying 181 people from Thailand to South Korea when it made a mayday call and belly-landed before crashing into a barrier and bursting into flames.
Everyone aboard Jeju Air Flight 2216 was killed, save two flight attendants pulled from the wreckage.
South Korea is observing seven days of mourning, with flags flying at half-mast.
Acting President Choi Sang-mok urged officials to "thoroughly reexamine the overall aircraft operation system... and immediately address any necessary improvements."
Inside the airport, where victims' relatives have been camped out since Sunday, waiting for information, anger was growing over delays in identifying passengers on the doomed plane.
But officials said they had begun releasing the first bodies to relatives, even as work to identify all victims continued.
"Of the 179 victims, the bodies of four have completed the handover procedures to their bereaved families for funerals," Transport Minister Park Sang-woo said at Muan airport on Tuesday.
"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.
Black box analysis
A fuller account of what went wrong in the flight's final moments is expected once authorities have analysed the black boxes.
"Regarding the black box, surface contamination cleaning has been completed at the testing and analysis center, and its condition is currently being assessed," deputy civil aviation minister Joo Jong-wan said.
"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.
Bd-pratidin English/Fariha Nowshin Chinika
