South Korea’s Jeju Air crash: police raid airport, ban airline CEO from leaving country

Officers also searched the carrier’s office in Seoul as authorities ramped up a probe into the disaster

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Relatives of the victims visit the Jeju Air crash site at Muan airport in South Korea on January 1. Photo: Yonhap/AFP

Published: 10:01am, 2 Jan 2025Updated: 5:09pm, 2 Jan 2025

South Korean police on Thursday raided the offices of Jeju Air and the operator of Muan International Airport as part of the probe into the fatal crash of a Boeing 737-800 plane that killed 179 people.

The chief executive of South Korean airline Jeju Air has also been banned from leaving the country, police said on Thursday.

“The... investigation team imposed a travel ban on two individuals, including Jeju Air CEO Kim E-bae,” said police in South Jeolla Province, where the crash in Muan city happened.

The flight was carrying 181 people from Thailand to South Korea on Sunday when it issued a mayday call and belly-landed before hitting a barrier and bursting into flames, killing everyone aboard except two flight attendants pulled from the burning wreckage.

Authorities carried out search and seizure operations at Muan airport where flight 2216 crashed, a regional aviation office in the southwestern city, and Jeju Air’s office in the capital Seoul.

South Korean and US investigators, including from Boeing, have been combing the crash site in southwestern Muan since the disaster to establish a cause, with both black boxes found and decoding work ongoing.