By Bart Meijer
(Reuters) -Uncertainties encompass the deadliest crash on South Korean soil, consultants stated on Sunday, questioning preliminary solutions {that a} chook strike may need introduced down the Jeju Air flight.
The obvious absence of touchdown gear, the timing of the twin-engine Boeing (NYSE:) 737-800’s belly-landing at Muan Worldwide Airport and the experiences of a doable chook strike all raised questions that would not but be answered.
The only-aisle plane was seen in video broadcast on native media skidding down the runway with no seen touchdown gear earlier than slamming right into a wall in an explosion of flame and particles.
“Why did not hearth tenders lay foam on the runway? Why weren’t they in attendance when the airplane touched down? And why did the plane contact down to date down the runway? And why was there a brick wall on the finish of the runway?” stated Airline Information editor Geoffrey Thomas.
South Korean officers stated they have been investigating the reason for the crash of Jeju Air Flight 7C2216, together with a doable chook strike. The crash killed 179 of the 181 individuals on board.
A spokesperson for Jeju Air was not instantly obtainable for feedback. Jeju Air declined to touch upon the reason for the accident throughout information conferences, saying an investigation is beneath means.
Underneath international aviation guidelines, South Korea will lead a civil investigation into the crash and routinely contain the Nationwide Transportation Security Board in america the place the airplane was designed and constructed.
The flight knowledge recorder was discovered at 11:30 a.m. (0230 GMT), about two and a half hours after the crash, and the cockpit voice recorder was discovered at 2:24 p.m., based on South Korea’s transport ministry.
“That provides you all of the parameters of all of the techniques of the airplane. The heartbeat of the airplane is on the flight knowledge recorder,” Thomas stated. “The voice recorder will in all probability present essentially the most fascinating evaluation of what went on on this tragic crash.”
Consultants warning that air accidents are normally attributable to a cocktail of things and it could possibly take months to piece collectively the sequence of occasions in and out of doors the airplane.
CHAIN OF EVENTS
Within the house of some minutes, the management tower issued a chook strike warning, pilots declared mayday after which tried to land, officers stated, though it was not clear whether or not the plane had hit any birds.
Consultants stated it appeared unlikely a chook strike would have precipitated the touchdown gear to malfunction.
“A chook strike isn’t uncommon, issues with an undercarriage are usually not uncommon. Chicken strikes occur way more usually, however sometimes they do not trigger the lack of an airplane by themselves,” Thomas stated.
Australian airline security skilled Geoffrey Dell (NYSE:) stated, “I’ve by no means seen a chook strike stop the touchdown gear from being prolonged.”
Australian aviation marketing consultant Trevor Jensen stated hearth and emergency companies would usually be prepared for a belly-landing, “so this seems to be unplanned”.
A chook strike might have impacted the CFM Worldwide engines if a flock had been sucked into them, however that will not have shut them down straightaway, giving the pilots a while to cope with the state of affairs, Dell stated.
It was unclear why the airplane didn’t decelerate after it hit the runway, Dell and Jensen stated.
Usually in a belly-landing, “You’re going to land in your engines and you are going to have a bumpy journey,” Thomas stated.
“You are available in with minimal gas, you could have hearth tenders in attendance, overlaying the runway with foam and also you land on the furthest finish of the runway and normally it finally ends up being an OK state of affairs.”
After the management tower issued the chook strike warning and the pilots declared mayday, the pilots tried to land on the runway from the wrong way, a transport ministry official stated.
“Within the means of touchdown it hit a navigation security facility referred to as a localizer and collided with the wall,” the official stated.
Joo Jong-wan, deputy transport minister, stated the runway’s 2,800-metre size was not a contributing issue, and that the partitions on the ends had been constructed based on requirements.
“Each ends of the runway have security zones with inexperienced buffer areas earlier than reaching the outer wall,” he advised a separate briefing. “The airport is designed based on normal aviation security pointers, even when the wall might seem nearer than it really is.”
The captain had labored at that rank since 2019 and had logged 6,823 flight hours, the ministry stated. The primary officer had labored at that rank since 2023 and had logged roughly 1,650 flight hours.
The Boeing mannequin concerned within the crash, a 737-800, is among the world’s most flown airliners with a typically sturdy security file and was developed properly earlier than the MAX variant concerned in a latest Boeing security disaster.
