The government announced its plans Monday to launch a comprehensive evaluation of electricity and fire detection systems on all passenger jets operated by Korean flag airlines, following the emergency landing of a Korean Air flight on Sunday.
Korean Air, the nation’s largest air carrier, Sunday grounded a Boeing 777 passenger jet from Seoul bound for Los Angeles after a burning smell was detected in the cabin. All 288 passengers and crew members safely disembarked at Japan’s Narita Airport.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said it will dispatch a team of inspectors to identify the exact cause of the accident, pledging to expand safety checkups to cover all flights operated by Korean airlines for prevention.
“It is unexpected that the government has taken such a prompt action,” said an industry watcher declining to be named.
According to Korean Air, a new flight was dispatched to take the passengers to Los Angeles and departed from Narita Airport at noon on Monday.
By Lee Ji-yoon (
jylee@heraldcorp.com)
