Fatalities caused during the Jeju Air crash that occurred on Dec. 29, 2024, killing 179 people, could have been avoided if not for a safety failure at Muan International Airport, a South Korean government-commissioned report has found. A reinvestigation has revealed oversight in safety standards through a commissioned simulation conducted in December 2025, which found that a concrete mound supporting the runway’s structure failed to meet standards and contributed to the fatal collision.
How safety failures worsened the tragedy
Jeju Air Flight 2216 made an emergency landing after reports of landing gear failure, when it overran the runway and hit the concrete mound at Muan Airport. This collision caused the explosion that took 179 lives, with only two flight attendants managing to survive the wreckage. This crash devastated civilians and families of the victims, making it South Korea’s worst crash in decades. The simulation that was commissioned by the Computational Structural Engineering Institute in Korea had uncovered that if the structure had been removed or designed to break away with impact, the aircraft would have slid to a halt without any fatalities.
The ministry told the National Assembly:
“The localizer at Muan Airport failed to comply with airport safety operation standards.”
A 2020 maintenance project was supposed to identify this clear violation of safety standards; however, the structure remained unchanged. It was found that there were meeting records opting to keep the records unchanged. The concrete mound was 199 metres away from the runway, causing the collision. It was also found that it had not complied with safety standards.
Accountability and steps moving forward
The victims’ families are calling for more responsibility to be held for the oversight of safety procedures and precautions. They are demanding public acknowledgement and apology, legal action and accountability. The Korean Assembly has approved a cross-party investigation in late 2025, not only for the crash’s technical issues, but also the initial investigation during the crash by authorities.
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