South Korean investigators have said that air traffic controllers warned the pilot about possible bird strikes two minutes before the aircraft issued a distress signal confirming that a bird strike had occurred, after which the pilot attempted an emergency landing.

South Korean officials have also pledged to improve airport safety after experts linked the high death toll to Muan airport's localizer system, the structure hit by the aircraft as it crashed. The localizer, a set of antennas designed to guide aircraft during landings, was housed in a concrete structure covered with dirt on an elevated embankment. This has raised questions about whether the structure should have been built with lighter materials that would break more easily upon impact.