Korean Airport Exec Dead Of Suicide After Jeju Air Crash

News Discussion
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The official in charge of the 2020 renovation of Muan International Airport in South Korea has been found dead at his home of an apparent suicide Tuesday evening. Last month, a Jeju Air Boeing 737 slammed into a concrete support off the end of the runway at Muan International, killing all but two of the 181 on board. According to a New York Times post, Son Chang-wan was president of the Korea Airports Corporation from 2018 to 2022, but was not named in the police investigation of the crash, which is largely blamed on the placement of the concrete barrier surrounding the localizer antenna off the end of the south-facing single runway.

This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://www.avweb.com/aviation-news/accident-that-killed-179-was-worst-in-countrys-history
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Tragedy on top of tragedy. Clearly it’s impressive when people take responsibility, but not sure we move forward if people feel like when they are blamed they need to take their own lives. This man probably didn’t single-handedly decide that this barrier should be concrete with the knowledge that it was putting aircraft at risk. Better to work together to learn from our mistakes and put in place processes that prevent it from happening again.

Imagine if this man had, instead of ending it all, devoted the rest of his life to working with other airport authorities and international organizations to improving airport safety?

Impossible to know what he was thinking, but it does seem like a waste.