Researchers analyzing the cause of worse will focus on the hypotheses of a bird strike and a failure in the landing gear of the Boeing 737-800. This Sunday (29), the plane landed on its belly at Aeroporth International Muan, collided with a wall and exploded in a ball of fire. 179 people died and 2 survived.
The aircraft operated by Jeju Water It was almost completely destroyed in the accident. To try to elucidate the causes of the accident, investigators will read the two flight recorders, which have already been removed from the wreckage. One of the devices is damaged and may need more time to analyze.
There are also images showing the aircraft during the landing approach with a engine apparently on fireas well as videos of the plane arriving at the airport and sliding down the runway at high speed, appearing largely intact, before impacting the embankment.
The accident raises several questions, and investigators said it is too early to speculate about what may have caused the crash. Bird strikes in the air are not uncommon, but are rarely deadly, as aircraft can operate on one engine for some time. Why the landing gear was not deployed also remains unclear, or even whether there is a link between this failure and the bird strike that was discussed between the flight deck and control tower shortly before landing.
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The pilot, considered a experienced captain with nearly 7,000 hours of active service, issued a emergency call “mayday” minutes after the control tower warned of a bird strike. He aborted his first landing, initiated a turn and changed direction on the runway on his second attempt. The control tower granted clearance to land in the opposite direction, and authorities said it was unlikely that the length of the runway caused the accident.
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Maintenance was up to date
The Boeing 737 involved in the accident is a predecessor of the newer Max variant. It is considered reliable and has undergone routine maintenance checksin a country with deep expertise in aircraft services. Worldwide, there are more than 4,000 aircraft of this type in service.
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Even if one of black boxes has been damaged in the accident, data storage drives can often be rebuilt to aid in the investigation. The hardened devices contain vital statistics and performance metrics from a flight, as well as recorded conversations and cockpit sounds.
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Muan’s control tower warned of the risk of a collision with birds at 8:57 a.m. local time, about two minutes before the pilot declared an emergency, authorities said. The airport had four employees working to prevent bird strikes at the time of the accident, including one outside the tower.
Birds are a risk to aviation because they can be ingested into the turbine or damage other parts of the plane and cause engine failure. In 2009, an Airbus A320 landed in New York’s Hudson River after a bird strike damaged both engines, in what became known as the “Miracle not Hudson” because everyone on board survived.
The 15-year-old plane Jeju Waterregistered as HL8088, entered service with the airline in 2017. It was initially delivered in 2009 to Irish low-cost airline Ryanair Holdings Plc, according to the Planespotters.net database. The jet was configured to accommodate up to 189 passengers. Founded in 2005, Jeju Air operates 42 aircraft, according to its website.
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There was no sign of malfunction during regular maintenance checks, said Kim E-Bae, executive director of Jeju Air, at a press conference. The jet was returning from Bangkok, Thailandovernight on a 4 and a half hour flight. The plane, which according to YTN had been chartered by a local travel agency for a Christmas vacation trip.
Muan is a small regional airport located in the south of the country, opened in 2007. It was built to help connect cities like Gwangju and Mokpo and has increased its scheduled international flight service this year, including those from Jeju Air.
Two survive plane crash
The two surviving flight attendants were taken to the hospital, and one of the two survivors is in the intensive care unit (ICU) with a fractured thoracic spine, the hospital doctor said at a news conference.
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Two passengers on Flight 2216 were Thai citizens. Authorities are checking nationalities other than South Koreans, according to the Ministry of Transport.
Boeing said it is in contact with Jeju Air and ready to offer support. Aircraft manufacturers often send experts to crash sites to help with the investigation.
The recovery of victims, some of whom were ejected from the aircraft after impact, has been completed and rescuers are now searching the wreckage for passengers’ belongings, Yonhap said.
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More than 1,500 people, including police, military, coast guard and local government personnel, are helping at the crash site, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said. The airport runway will remain closed for the next few days.
South Korea’s deadliest air disaster
The crash is South Korea’s deadliest passenger air disaster to date, surpassing the fatality toll from an Air China plane crash near Busan in 2002 that killed 129 people, according to the Aviation Safety Network. The accident is also among the worst globally this decade.
South Korea is currently facing a growing political crisis after its president sparked public outrage by briefly imposing martial law earlier this month. The interim president.
The accident is the second plane crash in less than a week. An incident in Russian airspace led to the crash of a Russian airliner. Azerbaijan Airlines on December 25, killing dozens.
Air accidents increase in 2024
After a year without a single fatal accident among the 37 million commercial aircraft movements in 2023, this year has seen an increasing number of cases. In early January, an approaching Japan Airlines Airbus A350 collided with a small plane on a runway in Tokyo, killing five occupants in the parked aircraft.
A few days later, a door flap exploded from a Boeing 737 Max 9 in flight in the USA. Although no one died in that crash, the episode threw the US plane maker into crisis.
In August, a smaller ATR turboprop plane operated by Brazil’s VoePass crashed near São Paulo’s Guarulhos International Airport, killing 58 passengers and four crew members.
