Grieving families demand answers after plane crash

Relatives of South Korea victims told they can't see bodies

- BARNEY DAVIS

Desperate families who camped out at an airport awaiting news of their loved ones “wailed and passed out” as names of the 179 killed in South Korea’s deadliest plane crash were announced yesterday.

Grief and shock swept through the room as it emerged the only two survivors were cabin crew sitting at the back of the Boeing 737-800 which crash-landed at Muan International airport.

Investigators have retrieved the flight data and cockpit voice recorders, but it could be months before the cause of the disaster is clear – including why Jeju Air flight 7C 2216 from Bangkok landed without its slats or wheels deployed, and why there was a solid object beyond the runway perimeter that the pilots were unable to avoid.

Among those waiting to identify relatives was Maeng Gi Su, whose nephew and his nephew’s two sons were aboard.

“I can’t believe the entire family has just disappeared,” Mr Maeng, 78, told the BBC adding they had been on their way back from a festive trip to Thailand. My heart aches so much.”