A Jeju Air passenger plane that departed from Seoul’s Gimpo airport to the city of Jeju in South Korea this Monday (30) had an unidentified problem with its landing gear after takeoff, according to a flight agency. Yonhap news.
The aircraft returned to Gimpo, where it landed safely, Yonhap reported, citing an unidentified source.
The report came one day after a big one on Sunday (29). According to local authorities, 179 people died at the time.
This is the country’s worst air disaster in decades. , both crew members.
The Jeju Air plane was carrying 175 passengers and six crew members when it crash-landed at Muan County Airport. Everyone on board was South Korean except for two Thai citizens.
Company refuses to comment on plane crash
A Jeju Air spokesperson was unavailable for comment. Jeju Air declined to comment on the cause of Sunday’s crash during press briefings, saying an investigation is ongoing.
Christian Beckert, a flight safety expert and pilot at Lufthansa, said video footage suggests that, apart from the thrust reversers, most of the plane’s braking systems were not activated, creating a “major problem” and a rapid landing.
Beckert said it was unlikely that one would happen while he was still up and that if it had happened when he was down, it would have been difficult to get him up again.
“It is very, very rare and unusual not to lower the landing gear, because there are independent systems that allow you to lower the gear with an alternative system,” he said.
The investigation should reveal a clearer picture, he added.
In accordance with global aviation rules, South Korea will conduct a civil investigation and involve the National Transportation Safety Board in the United States, where the plane was manufactured.
Experts say that plane crashes are usually caused by a number of factors and that it can take months to reach a conclusion about the sequence of events.
The flight data recorder was found at 11:30 a.m. local time, about two and a half hours after the crash, and the cockpit voice recorder at 2:24 p.m., South Korean authorities said.
Australian aviation consultant Trevor Jensen said fire and emergency services would normally be ready for a belly landing, “so this appears to have been unplanned.”
