US investigators dispatched to South Korea following deadly plane crash that claimed 179 lives, leaving the country in shock.

On Monday, the death toll for South Korea's deadliest plane crash in decades was 179 people, one day after the tragedy occurred and amidst the country's ongoing political turmoil.

Investigators from the United States are being dispatched to investigate the cause of the Jeju Air plane crash that occurred at Muan airport on Sunday, resulting in the aircraft slamming into a concrete barrier.

The Daily Mail reported that South Korean officials are searching through over 600 body parts at the crash site, and the smell of blood lingers in the air.

A total of 141 bodies have been identified, with the youngest being a 3-year-old and the oldest a 78-year-old, according to the BBC.

Two flight attendants, Lee and Kwon, were the only survivors of the plane crash that had 181 people on board.

According to the Korean Times, a hospital official stated that Lee, who sustained a fractured left shoulder and head injuries but remained conscious, was in a near-panic state and repeatedly asked "What happened?" and "Why am I here?" It is believed that she was worried about the safety of the plane and its passengers.

An aviation expert has expressed doubt about the bird strike theory in the deadly South Korean plane crash, stating that it "doesn't make sense." Kwon, who is being treated at Mokpo Central Hospital, sustained a scalp laceration, a fractured ankle, and abdominal pain, and had no immediate recollection of the crash.

The Korean Times reported that another hospital stated that although her life is not at risk, the trauma and injuries she sustained are substantial.

The Transport Ministry of South Korea announced on Monday that it will conduct safety inspections of all 101 Boeing 737-800 jetliners operated by the country's airlines, as well as a comprehensive review of safety standards at Jeju Air, which operates 39 of those planes. A senior ministry official, Joo Jong-wan, stated that representatives from the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board and Boeing are expected to arrive in South Korea on Monday to participate in the investigation.

The NTSB is collaborating with Boeing and the FAA to assist the ARAIB in investigating the Dec. 29 Jeju Air accident at Muan International Airport in Muan, Republic of Korea, as stated in the NTSB Newsroom account on X.

Officials from the ministry will investigate whether the Muan airport's localizer, a concrete fence with antennas, should have been made of lighter materials that would break more easily upon impact.

Joo stated that the ministry has discovered that similar concrete structures exist in other domestic airports, such as those in Jeju Island, Yeosu, and Pohang, as well as airports in the United States, Spain, and South Africa.

The recent crash, the worst aviation disaster in the country in decades, has led to an outpouring of national sympathy. With the leadership vacuum following the impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol and Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, many people are concerned about how effectively the South Korean government will handle the disaster amid political turmoil caused by Yoon's brief imposition of martial law earlier this month.

On Monday, the new acting President Choi Sang-mok led a task force meeting on the crash and ordered authorities to conduct an urgent review of the country's aircraft operation systems.

To prevent future incidents, the government should focus on improving aviation safety systems and creating a safer Republic of South Korea, as stated by Choi, who is also the deputy prime minister and finance minister, according to the Associated Press.

A Boeing 737-800 operated by South Korean budget airline Jeju Air aborted its first landing attempt, and during its second attempt, it received a bird strike warning from ground control before its pilot issued a distress signal. The plane landed without its front landing gear deployed, overshot the runway, struck a concrete fence, and burst into a fireball.

According to the AP, the Transport Ministry stated that authorities have identified 146 bodies and are collecting DNA and fingerprint samples from the remaining 33.

Officials need time to return the badly damaged bodies to the bereaved families, as stated by Park Han Shin, a representative of the affected families.

He demanded that the government increase the number of personnel to quickly and safely retrieve his loved ones.

On Monday, a Jeju Air Boeing 737-800 plane returned to Seoul's Gimpo International Airport after takeoff due to a landing gear issue detected by the pilot. The issue was resolved through communication with a land-based equipment center, but the pilot decided to return to Gimpo as a precautionary measure, according to Jeju Air executive Song Kyung-hoon.

Officials are examining the possibility of communication issues between air traffic controllers and the pilot, as stated by Joo.

During the go-around process, communication became ineffective or was interrupted before landing and impact, according to him.

The flight data and cockpit audio recorders from the crashed plane were transferred to a research center at Gimpo airport for analysis, according to ministry officials on Monday. Earlier, officials stated that it would take several months to complete the investigation into the accident.

Since 1997, the Muan crash is South Korea's deadliest aviation disaster, with a Korean Airlines plane crash in Guam resulting in 228 fatalities.

The crash caused shock and shame among South Koreans, prompting the government to declare a seven-day national mourning period from January 1 to January 7. Some people wondered if the crash was due to safety or regulatory problems, such as the 2022 Halloween crush in Seoul that killed 160 people and the 2014 ferry sinking that killed 304 people.

According to John Cox, a retired airline pilot and CEO of Safety Operating Systems in St. Petersburg, Florida, the video of the crash showed that the pilots did not deploy flaps or slats to slow the aircraft, which could have been due to a possible hydraulic failure, and did not manually lower the landing gear, suggesting they did not have enough time.

The landing gear malfunction was likely the direct cause of the crash, despite the jetliner being under control and traveling in a straight line, and damage and injuries likely would have been minimized if not for the barrier being so close to the runway, Cox said. Other observers said the videos showed the plane was suffering from suspected engine trouble, but the landing gear malfunction was likely a direct reason for the crash. They told the AP there wouldn't likely be a link between the landing gear problem and the suspected engine issue.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.