When Jeju Air’s status as South Korea’s biggest low-cost carrier seemed under threat from the merger of the country’s two biggest airlines last year, the company’s CEO assured employees that it would “actively respond,

Search operations at the site of the Jeju Air plane crash concluded on Saturday, one week after the devastating accident claimed 179 lives. Officials announced that all 179 bodies have been recovered, with 151 already returned to their families along with identified personal belongings.

As investigators look into what caused Jeju Air Flight 7C2216 to crash, the airline has come under intense government and public scrutiny for how it operates. Some of its operational practices are being challenged, including how it flew its planes more frequently than competitors and how it outsourced its maintenance overseas.

Investigators assessing the survivability of a plane crash focus on five factors: integrity of the aircraft, effectiveness of safety restraints, G-forces experienced by passengers and crew, the environment inside the aircraft and postcrash factors such as fire or smoke.

An investigation team launched an in-depth examination of key components from the wreckage of the Jeju Air disaster, including the engines and cockpit panel, following efforts to recover victims' remains.