An air safety expert has suggested that ‘everybody’ onboard the tragic Jeju Air crash ‘would have been alive’ if it wasn’t for a major error.
The death toll from the devastating plane crash in South Korea currently stands at 179, with only two crew members managing to make it out of the fireball on Sunday (29 December) morning local time.
The Boeing 737-800 jet had departed from Bangkok, Thailand, and crashed following an emergency landing at an airport in the town of Muan.
Footage of the incident appeared to show how the plane skidded across the runway without having deployed its landing gear, before it collided with a concrete wall and exploded.
Only the aircraft’s tail section was recognisable following the incident, with much of the plane being destroyed by the crash.
Local news outlets have reported that one of the passengers sent a text message to a family member saying a bird was ‘stuck in the wing’ of the plane, according to the BBC.
An investigation into the crash then confirmed that the plane had been attempting to land before it was given a bird strike warning from air traffic control.
179 have died in the Jeju Air disaster (JUNG YEON-JE/AFP via Getty Images)
The Jeju Air flight then issued a mayday warning and it was given permission to land at the airport.
The plane’s black box has been recovered from the site of the crash, meaning investigators will be able to learn what happened on the plane in the final moments.
South Korea’s government has declared a seven day period of mourning following the disaster.
As the focus now falls on what could have been done to prevent the crash, air safety experts have been weighing in.
David Learmount, who is the operations and safety editor of Flight International magazine and an aviation boffin, explained that the concrete wall that the plane smashed into was the ‘defining moment’ of the tragedy.
He told Sky News that he believes the passengers and crew who perished would have had a stab at survival after the plane touched down, despite it moving at such a high speed.
However, the concrete wall sealed the fate of those on board, according to Learmount.
Expert David Learmount believes more would have survived if it wasn’t for the concrete wall (Sky News)
“Not only is there no justification [for the wall to be there], I think it’s verging on criminal to have it there,” he explained.
“That kind of structure should not be there. That is awful. That is unbelievably awful.
“He [the pilot] has brought it down beautifully given the circumstances, they are going very fast but the plane is still intact as it slides along the ground.”
The concrete wall at the South Korean airport was part of a guidance system at the end of the runway which was supposed to help pilots land when visibility is poor or at night.
“To have a hard object about 200m or less into the overrun, I’ve never seen anything like this anywhere ever before,” Learmount continued.
He reckons that if the Boeing 737-800 had not pummelled into the wall, it would have instead smashed through a perimeter fence and across a road before coming to a stop in a nearby field.
“There was plenty of space for the aircraft to have slowed down, come to a halt,” Learmount added.
The Boeing 737-800 burst into flames after the collision (X)
“And I think everybody would have been alive…the pilots might have suffered some damage going through the security fence or something like that,” he said.
“But I even suspect they might have survived.”
Fellow aviation expert Sally Gethin also told the publication that she believes the wall played a key part in the huge death toll.
However, she wasn’t as optimistic as Learmount about what the outcome would have been otherwise.
Gethin told Sky News that the jet ‘seemed to be maintaining speed, so even if there had been more space at the end of the runway, it could have possibly ended up being catastrophic’.
South Korea’s deputy transport minister, Joo Jong-wan, insisted that walls at the end of the runway were built to industry standards.
At most airports, the instrument landing systems are placed on collapsible structures.
Featured Image Credit: Sky News/Chris Jung/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Topics: Travel, World News, News
Witnesses to the South Korean plane crash have described what they heard and saw before the crash.
The Jeju Air passenger plane, (Boeing 737-800) had departed from Bangkok, Thailand, before arriving at Muan Airport in South Korea early this morning at 9:03am local time.
Footage of the plane’s descent shows the Jeju Air plane skidding down the runway with it’s landing gear appearing to still be closed before crashing into a wall and bursting into flames.
The Jeju Air plane skidded on the runway before exploding (Twitter)
Carrying 181 passengers and crew, the fire station confirmed that at least 177 people died as a result of the crash, while two survivors, reported by Sky News to have been two crew members, were able to be pulled from the plane’s tail section.
It was previously reported that 174 people died in the plane crash – 83 women, 80 men and 11 people who were not immediately identifiable, however, the death toll is expected to rise as rescue efforts continue.
Eyewitnesses to the crash have since described hearing multiple explosions and flames in the plane’s engine.
The death toll has risen to 176 (Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)
According to Yonhap News Agency and the BBC, a witness named Cho said: “I saw the plane descending and thought it was about to land when I noticed a flash of light.
“Then there was a loud bang followed by smoke in the air, and then I heard a series of explosions.”
Meanwhile, Yoo Jae-yong, 41, who was close to the airport where he was staying, told Yonhap that he saw a spark on the right wing before the plane crashed.
“I was telling my family there was a problem with the plane when I heard a loud explosion.” they said.
Another witness, Kim Yong-cheol, said he heard ‘metallic scraping’ twice five minutes before hearing a ‘loud explosion’ and seeing ‘black smoke billowing into the sky’.
A distress signal had been sent out from the plane before it landed, and the plane’s black boxes, which include flight data and cockpit recording, has been recovered and will be studied to determine the cause of the explosion, the transport ministry have said.
Witnesses recalled hearing a ‘series of explosions’ (Chris Jung/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Korean transport ministry officials also say that the airport control tower had issued a bird strike warning to the plane shortly before it landed and also gave the aircraft permission to land elsewhere.
According to The Guardian, ministers shared that one of the surviving crew members had mentioned a bird strike after being rescued.
Jeju Air offered a ‘deep apology’ over the crash and in a statement and claimed it would do the ‘utmost to manage the aftermath of the accident’, and the company’s president, Kim E-bae, said that he feels ‘full responsibility’ for the crash. Although he says that no mechanical problems with the plane were noted during routine checks, Kim says will wait for the results of a government investigation to determine the cause and apologised to the families of the deceased.
Featured Image Credit: Chris Jung/NurPhoto via Getty Images/ Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images
Topics: World News, Jeju Air
The families of the 179 people who’ve confirmed to have died on board on the Jeju Air flight this morning have spoken out.
The Jeju Air passenger flight, (Boeing 737-800), had departed from Bangkok, Thailand, and crash landed at an airport in the South Korean town of Muan.
News footage of the crash showed the plane skidding down the runway at great speed with its landing gear closed before colliding with a wall and exploding.
Eyewitnesses to the crash also confirmed seeing a ‘series of explosions’ and ‘metallic scraping’.
The Jeju Air plane crashed in Muan Airport in South Korea (Twitter)
The BBC confirmed that 175 people, including four crew members, were killed in the crash – with some still awaiting identification. Currently, 88 victims have been identified thus far.
Two crew members have been reported as being the only survivors, with one of them reportedly going on to talk about a flock of birds after they were pulled from the wreckage, The Guardian reports.
According to the BBC, some of family members have since spoken out.
One man called Maeng Gi-su, 78, spoke to the outlet about his nephew and his two sons, who had been on the flight.
According to Maeng, the family had gone to celebrate the youngest child’s college entrance exams, and their father had taken them away as a treat.
He said: “I can’t believe the entire family has just disappeared. My heart aches so much.”
BBC correspondents also described hearing weeping on the first floor of Muan International Airport as families grieved their losses.
Families have been grieving in the airport (Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)
One woman, whose surname was Kim, spoke to Yonhap News Agency and revealed that her sister had been on the flight, telling them (via The Korea Times): “She’s had so many hardships and gone traveling because her situation was only just beginning to improve.”
Yonhap also reported that some had gathered to listen to an update from officials, according to the BBC, with a person asking: “Is there no possibility of survival at all?”
To which chief of Muan fire department Lee Jeong-hyeon replied: “Regrettably, it appears so,”
The airport authorities and the Red Cross set up more than a dozen yellow tents for bereaved families, where they were given wool blankets to keep warm.
Yonhap News Agency also reports that the ages of the passengers range from three to 78-years-old, however, most were in their 40s, 50s and 60s.
The transport ministry said that a distress signal had been sent out from the plane before it landed, with the plane’s black boxes, which include flight data and cockpit recording, having been recovered and will be
Topics: World News, Jeju Air
A man who survived the devastating Boxing Day tsunami has opened up about how he managed to escape on the 20th year anniversary of the disaster.
The Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami devastated countries in the Indian Ocean, with over 227,000 people losing their lives on 26 December 2004.
With 100ft waves crashing on coastal areas, it quickly swept away people who were on beaches, and even in hotels as the water battered the small islands.
The 20th anniversary of the disaster has since come around and some of those who miraculously escape the waves have come out to tell their stories.
Just six-years-old at the time, Louise described how she and her family managed to escape the giant waves, while Luke Simon shared the pain of losing his brother, Piers.
The now 50-year-old was on Thailand’s Koh Phi Phi islands with Piers, and his girlfriend Sophie Moghadam. He also had two friends, Ben Seyfried and Nick Thorne, with him on the morning of 26 December.
Prior to the disaster, he had been working in Thailand as a PE teacher and his brother came over to visit for Christmas.
In a recent interview with The Mirror after appearing in the ITV documentary Tsunami: The Wave That Shook The World, Luke spoke about his experience.
Luke Simon survived the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami in Thailand (Photo by ROSLAN RAHMAN/AFP via Getty Images)
“The horizon was sort of bubbling up and down because the wave had already hit the shore and then had destroyed anything in its path, and then was coming straight at us,” he said.
As people began to run around frantically, Luke initially believed that a gunman or a rabid dog was on the loose until he heard the words: “Water, coming.”
As Luke, Piers, Sophie, Ben and Nick ran to find higher ground, three people in the group were swept away.
He had led his group to a row of streets that had buildings they could climb on while shouting at his group to ‘get high and off the ground’.
He was able to hoist himself up onto an iron shed and held a hand out for Sophie, with Piers below to push her up.
But then, Ben and Nick were taken into an alleyway by the waves and Piers vanished.
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Luke was in Thailand as a PE teacher when the disaster happened (ITV)
After getting to safety on a high rooftop, Luke was soon reunited with his group and they began to look for Piers.
“We were all together again but Piers isn’t, there is something not right here. I tried to stop myself putting together these sentences, but I couldn’t.” Luke said.
He thought of numerous scenarios of what could have happened, but he would discover that he had died five days later after looking through the makeshift morgues which were erected to house the dead.
As the Thai police refused to let him identify his brother’s body because of the state it was in after being in water for so long, he enlisted the help of Ben to do it instead.
Since the disaster, he’s never once forgotten about the tragedy of the event and believes that it could happen to anyone at any time, noting that he holds no guilt for surviving, adding: “It could have happened anywhere in the world.”
Just after the tragedy, he set up School in a Bag, a charity which supplies school essentials to those in need worldwide.
Featured Image Credit: ROSLAN RAHMAN/AFP via Getty Images/ITV
Topics: World News, ITV, TV
A plane carrying 61 people has crashed in Brazil.
The aircraft was flying from Cascavel, in Parana to Guarulhos, in Sao Paulo, under the airline Voepass.
According to flight tracking website, Flightradar24, the plane left Cascavel at 11.56 local time and gave its final signal around an hour and a half later.
The plane could be seen in the sky (X/GloboNews)
The airline has confirmed that 61 people were on board the flight, meanwhile Sao Paulo’s fire brigade said that the aircraft crashed in a residential area of Vinhedo.
Emergency service teams rushed to the city, which is home to over 80,000 people.
Footage showing an area on fire and dark smoke coming from what looks to be an aircraft has been broadcast on Brazilian television network, GloboNews.
Meanwhile, footage on social media shows an aircraft descending at speed.
The plane could be seen descending at speed (X/GloboNews)
The plane is believed to have 58 passengers and four crew members on board.
It is not currently clear how many people have been injured in the incident, or if anybody was injured in Vinhedo.
However, Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has said it ‘appears’ all the passengers on the flight have sadly died in the crash.
“I would like everyone to stand up so that we can observe a minute of silence because a plane has just crashed in the city of Vinhedo, in São Paulo, with 58 passengers and four crew members and it appears they all died,” he said, in a video shared on X, as per CNN.
Black smoke could be seen billowing into the sky (X/GloboNews)
The president did not elaborate on where the information had come from.
Meanwhile, a statement by Voepass said: “The aircraft took off from Cascavel-PR bound for Guarulhos Airport, with 58 passengers and four crew members on board. VOEPASS has taken all measures to support those involved.
“There is still no confirmation of how the accident occurred or the current situation of the people on board. The Company is providing support via telephone at 0800 9419712, available 24 hours a day, providing information to all its passengers, family members and employees.”
