Did bird strike contribute to South Korea plane crash? What we know

Greater than 170 folks have died after a plane crashed as it was landing in South Korea on Sunday morning.

The Jeju Air aircraft got here off the runway earlier than colliding with a wall at Muan Worldwide Airport within the south west of the nation.

The aircraft, which was coming back from Bangkok, in Thailand, was carrying 181 folks – 179 of whom have died, whereas two crew members have been rescued from the wreckage.

Authorities are investigating the reason for the crash, which hearth officers have indicated might have occurred as a consequence of a fowl strike and unhealthy climate. Nevertheless consultants have warned the crash may have been attributable to plenty of components.

The flight, 7C2216, was a Boeing 737-800 operated by Jeju Air, Korea’s hottest funds airline.

The aircraft arrived in Muan at about 09:00 native time (00:00 GMT).

A South Korean transport official mentioned that the aircraft had been making an attempt to land however was pressured to carry off after air visitors management gave a fowl strike warning – an alert concerning the danger of a collision with birds.

About two minutes later, the pilot known as in a Mayday and air visitors command gave permission for the aircraft to land from the other way, the official mentioned.

One video seems to indicate the aircraft touching down with out utilizing its wheels or some other touchdown gear. It skidded down the runway and crashed right into a wall earlier than erupting into flames.

A witness informed the South Korean information company Yonhap that they heard a “loud bang” adopted by a “sequence of explosions”.

Movies from the scene present the aircraft ablaze with smoke billowing into the sky. Hearth crews have since extinguished the hearth.

Lee Jeong-hyun, the chief of the Muan hearth division, informed a televised briefing that the tail part of the aircraft was identifiable however “one can’t recognise the form of the remainder of the aircraft”.

He mentioned that the fowl strike and unhealthy climate might have triggered the crash – however that the precise trigger continues to be being investigated. The flight and voice recorders from the aircraft have been recovered, although the Yonhap information company reported that the previous was broken

One passenger on the flight messaged a relative, saying {that a} fowl “was caught within the wing” and that the aircraft couldn’t land, native media reported.

Officers, nevertheless, haven’t confirmed whether or not the aircraft did really collide with any birds.

The pinnacle of Jeju Air’s administration mentioned that the crash was not as a consequence of “any upkeep points”, Yonhap reported.

The South Korean transport division mentioned that the top pilot on the flight had held the function since 2019 and had greater than 6,800 hours of flight expertise.

Geoffrey Thomas, an aviation professional and editor of Airline Information, informed the BBC that South Korea and its airways have been thought of “trade finest apply” and that each the plane and the airline have an “wonderful security file”.

He added: “Numerous issues about this tragedy do not make sense.”

A fowl strike is a collision between a aircraft in flight and a fowl. They’re quite common – within the UK, there have been greater than 1,400 fowl strikes reported in 2022, solely about 100 of which affected the aircraft, in accordance with data from the Civil Aviation Authority.

The very best identified fowl strike occurred in 2009, when an Airbus plane made an emergency landing on New York’s Hudson River after colliding with a flock of geese. All 155 passengers and crew survived.

Professor Doug Drury, who teaches aviation at CQUniversity Australia, wrote in an article for The Conversation this summer season that Boeing planes have turbofan engines, which may be severely broken in a fowl strike.

He mentioned that pilots are skilled to be particularly vigilant through the early morning or at sundown, when birds are most energetic.

However some aviation consultants are sceptical about whether or not a fowl strike may have triggered the crash at Muan Airport.

“Usually they [bird strike] do not trigger the lack of an airplane by themselves,” Mr Thomas informed Reuters.

Australian airline security professional Geoffrey Dell additionally informed the information company: “I’ve by no means seen a fowl strike forestall the touchdown gear from being prolonged.”

The aircraft was carrying 175 passengers and 6 crew. Two of the passengers have been Thai and the remaining are believed to have been South Korean, authorities have mentioned. Many are thought to have been coming back from a Christmas vacation in Thailand.

The official demise toll stands at 179 – making it the deadliest aircraft crash in South Korean historical past.

All of the passengers and 4 members of crew died.

Authorities have up to now recognized not less than 88 our bodies.

5 of the individuals who died have been youngsters beneath the age of 10. The youngest passenger was a three-year-old boy and the oldest was 78, authorities mentioned, citing the passenger manifest.

South Korea’s Nationwide Hearth Company mentioned two members of flight crew – a person and a girl – survived the crash. They have been discovered within the tail aspect of the plane after the crash and brought to hospital, it mentioned.

Greater than 1,500 emergency personnel have been deployed as a part of restoration efforts, together with 490 hearth workers and 455 cops. They’ve been looking the realm across the runway for elements of the aircraft and those that have been onboard.

Performing President Choi Sang-mok has declared a particular catastrophe zone in Muan, which makes central authorities funding accessible to the native authorities and victims.

All flights to and from Muan Worldwide Airport have been cancelled.

Households of the victims of the crash have been travelling to the airport within the hope of discovering out what occurred to their kinfolk. Video footage from Reuters exhibits officers studying names of the victims out loud.

Airport authorities and the Crimson Cross have arrange greater than a dozen tents within the airport for bereaved households to grieve in non-public.

Sounds of crying echoed via the terminal. Some are pissed off at how lengthy it’s taking to establish the our bodies.

Jeju Air has apologised to households. Its chief govt mentioned in a information convention that the airline had no historical past of accidents. It’s believed that Sunday’s crash has been the one deadly accident for the reason that airline was launched in 2005.

Airplane producer Boeing has provided condolences to these affected.

Choi, South Korea’s appearing president, mentioned: “I categorical my deepest condolences to the numerous victims within the incident. I’ll do all I can for the injured to shortly recuperate.”

The federal government has declared a interval of nationwide mourning for the nation for the following seven days, throughout which flags at authorities places of work will probably be lowered.