Jeju Air to face rigorous safety inspections over repeated landing gear issues: govt

The government said Monday it plans to conduct rigorous safety inspections of low-cost carrier Jeju Air following repeated landing gear issues, believed to have caused a company plane crash that claimed 179 lives the previous day. The airline is under an investigation over the crash of flight 7C2216, which veered off the runway while belly-landing and collided with a fence at Muan International Airport in Muan County, about 290 kilometers southwest of Seoul. Earlier in the day, a separate Jeju Air flight that took off from Gimpo International Airport made a return during mid-flight due to a landing gear issue that was found similarly in Sunday's crash. It was of the same Boeing B737-800 model involved in the accident. "We plan to implement rigorous aviation safety inspections in response to the (landing gear) incidents," Joo Jong-wan, aviation policy chief at the transport ministry, said during a briefing at the Sejong government complex. Joo noted that Jeju Air was known for its high aircraft utilization rate, which some observers have pointed to as a possible factor in Sunday's crash. Following the landing gear issue reported on Monday, the ministry dispatched safety inspectors to the company to investigate the latest case.<br/>