Image source, EPA

Days after the Jeju Air plane crash in South Korea that killed 179 people, we are beginning to learn more about the circumstances of the flight.

The airline's boss - CEO Kim Yi-bae - held a news conference on Tuesday. Here's what we learned from that, and a few more details from earlier in the day:

• The CEO of Jeju Air says the pre-flight inspection of the Boeing 737-800, including its landing gear, "showed nothing abnormal"
• He has pledged to "repair trust" in the airline by strengthening safety measures, adding that it will reduce its winter air traffic by between 10-15%. This cut is not an admission that the airline was running too many flights, he added
• Some families of the people killed in the crash are still waiting for their relatives to be identified. One relative was told his two grandsons' bodies were "too scattered to be recognised"
• Investigators have started inspecting the plane's two black boxes -the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder
• Data have begun being downloaded from the voice recorder, but officials are struggling to extract data from the flight data recorder, which is said to be missing a critical connector

We're pausing our live coverage for today, but you can get caught up on the latest by reading our main news story or our explainer that covers everything we know about the crash so far.

This page was edited by Yvette Tan, Hannah Ritchie, Johanna Chisholm and Emily Atkinson. It was written by Koh Ewe, Lana Lam, Kelly Ng and Rachel Flynn with Jean Mackenzie and Jake Kwon reporting from South Korea.

At a news conference earlier, Jeju Air's chief executive Kim Yi-bae appeared to sidestep a question raised about the concrete wall near the runway and its role in the crash.

Footage shows the plane coming off the runway before colliding with the wall and bursting into flames.

Asked by a reporter if Kim thought the wall was a factor in the disaster, he did not give a direct answer and instead said it was right to call the plane crash the Jeju Air disaster, rather than the Muan Air disaster.

Aviation experts have also raised questions about the "unusual" concrete wall near the runway.

Air safety expert David Learmount said that, had the "obstruction" not been there, the plane "would have come to rest with most - possibly all - those on board still alive".

The concrete structure holds a navigation system that assists aircraft landings - known as a localiser - according to South Korea's Yonhap News Agency.

At 4m (13ft) high, it is covered with dirt and was raised to keep the localiser level with the runway to ensure it functions properly, Yonhap reported.

South Korean officials have said the structure was about 250m (820ft) from the end of the runway and most airports in the country followed international rules recommending a safety area of 240m (787ft).

However, remarks in the airport's operating manual, uploaded early in 2024, said the embankment was too close to the end of the runway and recommended that the location of the equipment be reviewed during a planned expansion.

Nearly 180 people died after a plane crashed as it was landing in South Korea on the morning of Sunday 29 December.

Footage shows the Jeju Air plane coming off the runway before colliding with a barrier and bursting into flames at Muan International Airport.

The plane, which was returning from Bangkok, Thailand, was carrying 181 people - 179 of whom were killed. Two crew members were rescued from the wreckage.

Authorities are investigating the cause of the crash, with fire officials indicating a bird strike and bad weather. However experts have warned the crash could have been caused by a number of factors.

What happened?

Flight 7C2216 was a Boeing 737-800 operated by Jeju Air, Korea's most popular budget airline.

Air traffic control authorised the plane to land at Muan International Airport at about 08:54 (23:54 GMT) - just three minutes before issuing a warning about bird activity in the area.

At 08:59, the pilot reported that the plane had struck a bird, declaring "mayday mayday mayday" and "bird strike, bird strike, go-around". The pilot then aborted the original landing and requested permission to land from the opposite direction.

Air traffic control authorised the alternative landing at 09:01 and at 09:02 the plane made contact with the ground, coming down at roughly the halfway point of the 2,800m runway.

One video appears to show the plane touching down without using its wheels or any other landing gear. It skidded down the runway, overshot it and crashed into a wall, before erupting into flames.

• Read more about the South Korea plane crash

While Jeju Air provided an update on how the airline will respond to Sunday's plane crash - now, the deadliest to take place on South Korean soil - mourners have been gathering in Muan to commemorate the 179 people who were killed.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

The press conference has shed some light on Jeju Air's financial compensation plans for victims' families, who are continuing to grapple with the shock and pain after the disaster.

Emotional scenes have played out at Muan International Airport, as family members heard from officials that many of the bodies were so damaged they would need more time to match the parts together.

Shin Gyu-ho, who lost his son-in-law and two grandsons in the disaster, was told that the teens' bodies were "too scattered to be recognised".

Jeon Je-young, 71, told Reuters that his daughter Mi-Sook, who had travelled to Bangkok with her friends, was identified by her fingerprints.

• Anger as families wait for victims' remains after South Korea plane crash

As video footage shows the harrowing moment the Jeju Air plane belly landed on the runway, crashing into a wall before bursting into flames, aviation experts have raised questions about the location of a wall so near the end of the runway.

Air safety expert David Learmount said that the plane "would have come to rest with most - possibly all - those on board still alive" had there not been the "obstruction".

Christian Beckert, a Lufthansa pilot based in Munich, told Reuters that the concrete structure was "unusual" and that "normally, on an airport with a runway at the end, you don't have a wall".

Chris Kingswood, a veteran pilot who has flown the same type of plane involved in the crash, told BBC News that "obstacles within a certain range and distance of the runway are required to be frangible, which means that if an aircraft strikes them that they do break."

"It does seem unusual that it's such a rigid thing," he said of the wall seen in the Jeju Air crash.

• Read more about aviation experts' analysis of the crash

As we mentioned earlier, the CEO of Jeju Air has now wrapped up a press conference in which he addressed issues like airplane maintenance and staff support. Here are the main takeaways:

• The airline will reduce its air traffic this winter by 10-15% to carry out more maintenance work on the planes. But this was not an admission that the company was running too many planes, Kim said

• The company's pilots are trained to regulation standards, Kim said. The company has two flight simulators and has increased its number of maintenance workers from 12 per aeroplane in 2019 to the current 12.9
• Over the past 5 years, Jeju Air had paid the most fines and faced the most administrative action of any Korean airline, Kim said, adding that company was consistently improving its safety record.
• Jeju Air is preparing emergency compensation for victims' families and will cover funeral costs. The money would be released soon, Kim said
• Jeju Air employees are on site to provide counselling to bereaved families, he said, adding that support is also needed for staff mourning their colleagues

Over the past five years, Jeju Air has paid the most fines and faced the most administrative action of any Korean airline, but it has consistently improved its safety record, Kim tells reporters

We have a strict maintenance checklist, he says, adding: “If something was missed it would be a grave problem”.

The press conference comes to an end. We'll bring you a summary of the key lines shortly - stay with us.

A second Jeju Air flight which faced issues with its landing gear on Monday and was forced to return to Seoul's international airport has been declared safe, Jeju Air CEO Kim Yi-bae says.

He says the pilot had spotted that the casing to access the landing gear was slightly open. The pilot then reported this and the plane returned to the airport for maintenance.

The plane had also been a Boeing 737-800, the same model as the aircraft that crashed on Sunday.

Kim now addresses the distress suffered by workers at Muan airport - the site of Sunday's deadly plane crash.

Many are having a "difficult time", he tells reporters, saying more support is needed for the staff mourning their colleagues.

Kim adds that Jeju Air staff are at the airport to provide counselling to the bereaved families.

In the wake of the tragedy, aviation experts have raised questions about a wall located near the end of the runway - which the plane crashed into before bursting into flames.

Speaking at the press conference, Kim appears to sidestep a question raised about the same wall.

Asked by a reporter if he thinks the wall was a factor in the disaster, Kim does not give a direct answer.

He instead addresses an online debate about whether the tragedy should be called the Jeju Air disaster or the Muan Air disaster.

It was right to call it the Jeju Air disaster, Kim says, thereby accepting some responsibility.

Airline boss Kim Yi-bae is asked about the safety procedures required both before take off and during the flight.

He says Jeju Air follows the standard procedures and a plane would not be allowed to take off if the maintenance team has not signed off the safety of the plane.

We definitely follow the maintenance schedule, he tells the press conference.

Jeju Air's CEO is asked about the mass cancellations of flights following the plane crash on Sunday, in which 179 were killed.

It's hard to tell you the exact numbers, Kim says.

We understand there will be more cancellations, he says, and it depends how fast we can regain people's trust as to when we can increase our schedules again.

No issues were brought to light when the plane was inspected on the day of the flight, Jeju Air CEO Kim Yi-bae says.

He adds that nothing abnormal with the landing gear was flagged.

One video appears to show the Boeing 737-800 touching down at Muan Airport without using its wheels or any other landing gear.

"The question about whether the landing gear was working properly or not is related to the accident investigation," he says. "You will hear the result when it comes out."

Image source, Reuters

Kim will now take questions from the journalists assembled at the press conference in Seoul.

He says Jeju Air's priority is to focus on the tragedy and supporting the families whose loved ones were killed in the plane crash at the weekend.

He says the airline will now take full responsibility to take care of the situation.

Jeju Air's pledge to cut flight numbers following the deadly plane crash on Sunday is not an admission that it was running too many planes, CEO Kim Yi-bae says.

Some context: Kim earlier announced the airline was reducing its winter air traffic by up to 15%.

Jeju Air CEO Kim continues by insisting that the airline's pilots are trained up to regulation standard.

The airline has two full flight simulators, he says, and the maintenance workers per aircraft has increased from 12 in 2019 to 12.9 today.

Jeju Air CEO Kim Yi-bae begins the press conference, taking place in the South Korean capital, Seoul.

He says the airline was monitoring the weather both before and after the flight.

Kim adds that the airline will reduce its winter air traffic by between 10-15%.

We aim to repair your trust in us by strengthening the safety measures, he says.

The Jeju Air press conference has begun in Seoul. The airline is expected to share more details about providing support and compensation for victims' families.

Follow us as we bring you more updates. Tap the watch live button at the top of the page to follow along.

Most of the victims of the crash have now been identified.

There's the father who took his two sons to Thailand for a vacation to celebrate the end of their college entrance exams.

Earlier we mentioned Jongluk Doungmanee, a Thai national who had been working in South Korea for the past five years. She would travel back to Thailand twice a year to visit family.

Among the crash victims were also five female employees of the Jeollanam-do Office of Education who had flown to Bangkok to celebration their promotions.

Their friends have now brought food and phone chargers to their families camping at the airport, while grieving colleagues have placed white flowers on their desks,

"Whenever [we see] flowers on the empty desk," one colleague told Reuters, "Ah, sadness rushes in."

Read more here.