Jeju Air executives arrived at the scene 11 hours after the Jeju Air flight crash at Muan International Airport in Jeollanam-do, causing family members of the victims to express their anger.
CEO of Jeju Air Kim Yibae, Vice Chairman of Aekyung Group Go Joon, CEO of AK Holdings, and other executives from Jeju Air and its parent company, AK Group, arrived ta Muan Airport around 8 PM on the 29th to offer their condolences to the families and promised full support in the future.
In response, the family members criticized the executives for arriving so late, expressing frustration. Park Hanshin, the temporary representative of the victims' families, confronted CEO Kim and the vice chairman, saying "We have been looking for Jeju Air officials for hours, but no one showed up. He added, "In a world where one can reach anywhere in the country within three to four hours, why are you only showing up 11 hours later? What are you trying to do?" He continued, "This is a situation where you should have come earlier to sincerely apologize. I don’t understand why it took so long. Would they be this late if the victims were your own families?"
CEO Kim explained, "We were late because we were organizing an initial response team to support the government investigation and holding briefings in Seoul." He continued, "We are sending 260 support personnel to Muan to assist the families. We will support all procedures, including funeral arrangements." Head of Jeju Air's Planning Division, Lee Jungseok, added, "We arrived early to set up an on-site response headquarters nad handle the accident site. We will take responsibility for the requests made by the families and offer our full support."
The families also criticized Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Park Sangwoo, and Governor of Jeollanam-do Kim Youngrok who visited the site. Minister Park stated at 7:30 PM on the same day, "The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport is holds the biggest responsibility for this accident. We will not avoid our responsibility and will swiftly investigate the cause of the incident."
However, the families were frustrated with the response they received, as they were only told that identification of the victims was still ongoing. Family member A said, "We have been requesting all day for a situation room to be set up so that we can ask questions, but nothing has been set up. Even when they hold briefings, they keep giving the same answer that they are still verifying identities. It's so frustrating."
Meanwhile, Jeju Air Flight 7C2216, which departed from Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok, Thailand, crashed at Muan Airport at 9:03 AM. The landing gear failed to deploy, and the plane attempted a belly landing but was unable to slow down, crashing into airport structures. Of the 181 people aboard (6 crew members), 179 were confirmed dead. Two crew members were rescued and transported to a hospital in Seoul. As of 8:38 PM that day, the identities of 65 victims had been identified.
-Whoa... That's so late? Did they go on foot or what?
-What were they doing that it took them 11 hours to show up?
-Seriously, would you show up 11 hours later if the victims were your family?
-Are they crazy? This is not America. Our country is small. Why did it take them 11 hours to show up?
-11 hours is crazy, isn't it? It seems like they didn't want to come in the first place.
-These disgusting people must've been racking their brains trying to avoid responsibility for 11 hours.
-?? Is this real? You should’ve rushed over as soon as the accident happened.
-I’m never flying Jeju Air again.
-I don’t know about others, but the airline CEO should’ve rushed immediately. What were they doing coming so late? Are they only there for a photo op now?
-You can get anywhere in the country in just 4 hours, though...
-Seriously, are they even human? The accident happened at 9 AM, and they only showed up after sunset?
-I can't believe they only showed up 11 hours after the accident... It takes even less time to fly from Bangkok to Seoul...
-They should've been the first to arrive.
-You idiots, are you even human?
