The wall at Muan International Airport, which the South Korean plane crashed into, should not have been “anywhere near the runway”, aviation industry expert Geoffrey Thomas told Reuters on Sunday (29).
So far 179 people have died in the deadliest plane crash in South Korean history, when an aircraft made a forced landing and left the runway, exploding after hitting a wall.
“I would say that it is completely against international standards to have that wall there,” explained the commentator.
The apparent absence of landing gear, the timing of the belly landing of the twin-engine Boeing BA.N 737-800 at Muan International Airport and reports of a possible bird strike have raised questions that have not yet been answered.
South Korean authorities, including a possible bird strike, which killed nearly all 181 people on the aircraft.
“A bird strike is not uncommon. Problems with a landing gear are not uncommon. Yes, they happen from time to time,” expressed Thomas.
According to the expert, bird strikes happen “much more frequently, but they do not normally cause the loss of a plane by themselves. Now you see, the situation in the cockpit is something we simply know nothing about until we can recover the voice recorder.”
Jeju Air Flight 7C2216 089590.KS, arriving from the Thai capital Bangkok with 175 passengers and six crew on board, was attempting to land shortly after 9 a.m. local time at the airport in the south of the country, Korea’s Ministry of Transport reported. South.
Two people, both crew members, were rescued.
Worst plane crash in decades
It is the worst, and the worst involving a South Korean airline in almost three decades, according to ministry data.
The twin-engine Boeing 737-800 was seen in video broadcast by local media skidding across the runway with no apparent landing gear before crashing into a wall in an explosion of flames and debris.
Other photos showed smoke and fire emerging from parts of the plane.
