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FLYERS were left panicking in mid-air after another South Korean Boeing suffered a landing gear issue hours after the deadly crash that killed 179.
The unidentified malfunction happened on the same model of plane as the Jeju Air flight that smashed into a runway embankment on Sunday and exploded.
Flyers were left panicking in mid-air after the the Boeing was forced to return[/caption]
The aborted flight comes just a day after the Jeju Air disaster which killed 179[/caption]
Family members of a victim grieve at the airport[/caption]
Jeju Air Flight 7C101 departed from Gimpo Airport for Jeju at 6.37am but was found to have the defective landing gear an hour later and forced to return.
After safely landing, some 21 of the 161 passengers on board the Boeing 737-800 decided not to get back onto the flight saying they were too anxious to fly again.
Jeju Air transferred the remaining passengers to a replacement flight of the same model Boeing and departed for Jeju again at 8.30am.
A Jeju Air official said about the incident: “The turnaround was a necessary measure for safe operation.
“We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience caused to our passengers.”
Jeju Air currently operates 39 Boeing 737-800s out of its fleet of 41.
South Korea’s acting president has ordered an emergency safety inspection of the country’s entire airline industry after the Muan disaster.
Choi Sang-mok also has asked investigators to disclose the findings of their investigation into the doomed Jeju Air jet promptly.
The crash is now the worst air disaster on Korean soil ever after only two of the 181 on board survived.
They are reported to be a 33-year-old male cabin steward and a stewardess in her 20s who were both pulled from the tail of the plane.
Video caught the Boeing 737-800 ‘belly land’ on the runway without any wheels before skidding along the tarmac.
The plane then smashed into a concrete-reinforced embankment at the end of the runway causing the jet to explode.
The Jeju Air flight took off from Gimpo and returned an hour later (file photo)[/caption]
Jeju Air flight 7C2216 exploded after it hit an embankment on the runway[/caption]
Firefighters investigate the crash site following Sunday’s disaster[/caption]
