Air safety experts on Tuesday questioned the deployment of an airport embankment into which a South Korean passenger jet crashed after skidding off the end of the runway, resulting in the country’s deadliest air disaster.
All 175 passengers and four of the six crew were killed on Sunday when Jeju Air flight 089590.KS belly-landed at Muan International Airport, plowed into a sand and concrete embankment and exploded in a fireball. Two crew members were rescued alive.
What led the pilot to attempt the landing after the emergency was declared was still under investigation.
But comments in the airport’s operating manual, uploaded in early 2024, said the embankment was too close to the end of the runway and recommended the location of the equipment be reviewed during a planned expansion.
A transport ministry official said on Tuesday that authorities would have to check the document before answering questions.
South Korea’s acting president, Choi Sang-mok, ordered emergency safety inspections of all Boeing 737-800 planes operated by the country’s airlines after the Jeju Air crash killed almost all passengers on board.
Experts criticized the positioning of the embankment, which held navigational equipment.
“Unfortunately, that’s what killed them all because they literally hit a concrete structure,” Capt. Ross Aimer, chief executive of Aero Consulting Experts, told Reuters.
“It wasn’t supposed to be there.”
The police are still working for ID victims
Meanwhile, police worked to identify the victims as impatience grew among families gathered at the airport as they waited for the bodies of their loved ones to be released.
The National Police Agency said it was making an all-out effort to speed up the identification of the five still unidentified bodies, deploying more personnel and rapid DNA analyzers.
Acting South Korean President Choi Sang-mok on Monday ordered an emergency safety inspection of the country’s entire airline operation as investigators sought to uncover what caused the deadliest air disaster on South Korean soil.
The country’s transport ministry said the black box flight recorder recovered from the crash site was missing key parts and authorities were considering how to retrieve its data.
Inspections of all 101 B737-800s operated by South Korean airlines were scheduled to be completed by Jan. 3, while the airport will remain closed until Jan. 7, the ministry said.
Representatives from the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the Federal Aviation Administration and plane maker Boeing have joined the probe and plan to meet in Muan on Tuesday.
The NTSB said in a statement that it sent three investigators to South Korea to assist the investigation, including people with specialties in operational factors and airworthiness.
“If we need more specialists, we will send them,” NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy said in an interview.
Questions about embankment, bird strikes
Investigators are looking into bird strikes, whether any of the plane’s control systems were disabled and the apparent rush by the pilots to attempt a landing shortly after an emergency was declared as possible factors in the crash, fire and transportation officials said.
Officials have also faced pointed questions about design features at the airport, particularly a large dirt and concrete embankment near the end of the runway used to support navigation equipment.
The plane hit the embankment at high speed and exploded in a fireball. Bodies and body parts were thrown into the surrounding fields and most of the aircraft went up in flames.
South Korean officials say the embankment is built to standards and has similar features at other airports, including in the United States and Europe.
But many experts said its proximity to the end of the runway defied best practices and likely made the crash far deadlier than it might have been otherwise.
John Cox, CEO of aviation consulting firm Safety Operating Systems and a former 737 pilot, said the runway design “absolutely” did not meet industry best practices, which rule out any strong structures such as a belt inside the runway. at least 300 meters from the end of a runway.
According to an analysis of satellite images by Reuters.
South Korean officials have said the embankment is about 250 meters from the end of the runway itself, although a paved apron extends beyond it.
In video footage of the crash, the plane appeared to be slowing and checking as it ran off the runway, Cox said.
“When that berm hits is when it turns into a tragedy.”
NYE celebrations across the country were cancelled
Both floors of Muan Airport’s main building were still packed with dead relatives on Tuesday evening as many waited for an altar to be opened to pay their respects. Others rested in hundreds of tents set up at the airport. Religious, social and voluntary groups were busy providing food and drink.
Relatives took turns bowing before the makeshift altar, draped with chrysanthemums and photographs of the deceased, with some sobbing after paying their respects.
With the nation grieving over the flight disaster, New Year celebrations across the country were cancelled.
Broadcasters KBS, MBS and SBS canceled their annual awards ceremonies or countdown festivals. The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced that its annual bell display, scheduled for Tuesday, would be quiet without a show, but with a moment of silence.
