Another Boeing plane has reportedly faced landing gear problems following a fatal plane crash on Sunday.
Yesterday (December 29), a Jeju Air flight carrying almost 200 people crashed and killed 179 of its passengers.
The harrowing incident has since been branded as South Korea’s worst ever aviation disaster after the aircraft crash-landed at Muan International Airport at 9:03am.
Pilots had to abort the first landing attempt for unknown reasons, when it received a bird strike warning during the second try from the ground control centre before its pilot issued a distress signal, according to the transport ministry.
The plane, a 15-year-old Boeing 737-800 jet, landed without its front landing gear deployed, overshot the runway, slammed into a concrete fence and burst into a fireball.
Only two people, who were crew members on the plane, have survived the ordeal, with an investigation into the exact cause of the crash still underway.
Now there are reports that another Boeing plane has been forced to turn around today (December 30) because of landing gear issues.
Yesterday’s crash has been branded as South Korea’s worst ever aviation disaster (Chris Jung/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
As per The Economic Times, Jeju Air Flight 7C101 set off from Seoul’s Gimpo International Airport around 6:37am and had to land back at the same airport less than an hour later.
Song Kyung-hoon, head of the management support office at Jeju Air, said in a news conference: “Shortly after takeoff, a signal indicating a landing gear issue was detected on the aircraft’s monitoring system.
“At 6:57am, the captain communicated with ground control, and after taking additional measures, the landing gear returned to normal operation.
“However, the decision was made to return to the airport for a thorough inspection of the aircraft.”
Ahead of this morning’s incident, South Korean officials said they’re conducting safety inspections of all Boeing 737-800 aircraft operated by the country’s airlines.
Another Jeju Air flight is said to have faced landing issues (S3studio/Getty Images)
Acting president Choi Sang-mok, who has only been in the position since Friday (December 27), presided over a task force meeting on the crash and instructed authorities to conduct an emergency review of the country’s aircraft operation systems.
“The essence of a responsible response would be renovating the aviation safety systems on the whole to prevent recurrences of similar incidents and building a safer Republic of South Korea,” said Mr Choi, who is also deputy prime minister and finance minister.
While the cause of the fatal crash is yet to be determined, David Learmount, who is the operations and safety editor of Flight International magazine and an aviation expert, said that more people would have survived if the concrete wall by the runway hadn’t been there.
“Not only is there no justification [for the wall to be there], I think it’s verging on criminal to have it there,” Learmount told Sky News.
“That kind of structure should not be there. That is awful. That is unbelievably awful.”
Topics: Jeju Air, News, World News, Korea, Travel
A plane crash at an international airport in South Korea has killed a total of 179 people; here’s everything we know so far.
When and where did the Jeju Air plane crash take place?
The crash and subsequent fire occurred at the Muan International Airport, located in southwestern South Korea approximately 180 miles (290km) south of Seoul.
Footage from the airport shows the plane sliding along the runway before colliding straight into a concrete wall, where the aircraft was destroyed and came to a stop as a fire broke out.
The incident took place at 9:03am local time today (December 29), as the Jeju Air flight came in to land after journeying from Bangkok, Thailand.
Why did the plane crash?
Authorities have shared some theories as to why the Boeing 737-800 crashed, including the possibility of a bird strike.
Prior to the crash, the control tower at Muan International Airport had warned the Jeju Air pilot of a bird strike, and footage aired by a local broadcaster appears to show a strike as the plane was descending.
A witness to the crash, 70-year-old Kim Yong-cheol, told the Yonhap News Agency that he heard the sound of ‘metallic scraping’ twice about five minutes before the crash.
Authorities are also looking into the possibility that weather conditions may have played a role in the incident.
The exact cause of the crash is still under investigation, but a senior Transport Ministry official has said authorities have recovered the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder to look at data surrounding the crash.
However, as some of the data is said to have been damaged in the crash, it could take up to a month to decode.
The plane was destroyed in the collision (SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
What happened in the moments before the crash?
Video footage shows the plane sliding along the runway on its belly, with no wheels to support it as it came in to land.
This is believed to be the second attempt the pilot made at landing after the plane’s landing gear failed to lower as it should have.
According to The Independent, a timeline of the minutes before the plane struck the wall has now come to light.
8:57am – The control tower at Muan International Airport issues a warning over possible bird strikes
8:58am – The Jeju Air pilot sends a ‘Mayday’ distress signal
9:00am – The plane attempts to land, but the landing gear is not deployed
9:03am – The plane crash-lands and collides into the concrete wall
The plane skidded along the runway before the crash (MBC News)
Who was on board?
A total of 181 people were on the plane when the collision took place; six crew members and 175 passengers. Rescuers managed to save two members of the crew, but the remaining 179 people have been declared dead.
Among the deceased are five children under the age of 10, and an older passenger who was 78 years old. Most passengers were South Koreans, though there were also two Thai women on board, Thai authorities confirmed.
Some of the families of the deceased have since spoken out and in honor of the victims, the South Korean government has declared a period of national mourning in the country for the next seven days.
One of the two survivors has spoken out after he was taken to hospital, and said that he had already been rescued when he woke up.
Hospital director Ju Woong told the Yonhap News Agency: “He’s fully able to communicate. There’s no indication yet of memory loss or such.”
The survivor suffered multiple fractures in the crash and is now receiving special care due to the risk of after-effects.
Recovery efforts began immediately after the crash (Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)
What have Jeju Air and Boeing said?
The president of Jeju Air, Kim E-bae, addressed the crash in a televised news conference and said that he takes ‘full responsibility’ for what happened.
He noted the company had not noticed any mechanical problems with the plane prior to the incident, and that he would wait for the results of government investigations to determine the cause of the crash.
Song Kyung-hoon, the head of Jeju Air’s management team, has added that the crash was not due to ‘any maintenance issues’.
“There are areas we have to investigate further by determining the exact cause of the crash,” he said, adding that the company’s insurance plan should be able to support the victims of those involved and their families.
In a statement on Twitter, Boeing said it is in contact with Jeju Air about the crash and ‘stand ready to support them’.
“We extend our deepest condolences to the families who lost loved ones, and our thoughts remain with the passengers and crew,” the company added
Featured Image Credit: SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg via Getty Images/Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images
Topics: World News, Jeju Air
An aviation expert explains a very simple change could have meant that every passenger survived the harrowing crash.
South Korea is currently in a seven-day period of mourning following the worst ever domestic civil aviation disaster.
Authorities have confirmed that 179 out of the total 181 people onboard have died following the Jeju Air Flight 2216 on Sunday (December 29).
While it is not clear exactly what happened to cause the incident, footage from the airport shows the plane skidding across the runway without its landing gear open before it collided with the wall and burst into flames.
David Learmount, who is the operations and safety editor of Flight International magazine and an aviation expert, explained that more passengers would have had a chance of survival if one change was made.
Speaking to Sky News, he took great issue with the concrete wall at the end of the runway. Of the videos circulating on social media of the crash, the plane is seen sliding along the runway, but still relatively intact.
The plane then explodes into a ball of fire after it crashes headfirst into the wall.
He said: “Not only is there no justification [for the wall to be there], I think it’s verging on criminal to have it there.
“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.”
Expert David Learmount believes more would have survived if it wasn’t for the concrete wall (Sky News)
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.
However, Learmount argued he hadn’t seen a similar layout at other airports. People have also questioned the significance of the concrete wall in the crash.
The expert also suggested that if the Boeing 737-800 had not smashed 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.
Only two people surived the plane crash and are now in hospital (JUNG YEON-JE/AFP via Getty Images)
He added: “To have a hard object about 200m or less into the overrun, I’ve never seen anything like this anywhere ever before.
“There was plenty of space for the aircraft to have slowed down, come to a halt.
“And I think everybody would have been alive…the pilots might have suffered some damage going through the security fence or something like that.
“But I even suspect they might have survived.”
Featured Image Credit: Sky/NurPhoto/Getty
Topics: Korea, News, Travel, World News, Jeju Air
A devastating plane crash in South Korea left 179 out of 181 onboard dead and some of the victims’ loved ones are speaking out.
Earlier today (December 29) shortly after 9:00 am local time, a Jeju Air Flight 2216 – a Boeing 737-800 passenger aircraft – tried to land at Muan International Airport in Muan County, South Korea after taking off from Suvarnabhumi Airport near Bangkok, Thailand at around 2:00 am local
The aircraft ended up crashing following an emergency landing, killing 179 out of 181 onboard.
Passenger plane moments before crash
Harrowing footage from the airport shows the moment the passenger plane attempts to land on the runway, with it ending up skidding across and colliding with a wall, later bursting into smoke and flames.
It’s reported the front landing gear of the plane failed to deploy, forcing the pilot to make a crash landing.
Director of the Aviation Policy Division at South Korea’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Joo Jong-wan said, as per NBC News, the pilot ‘declared mayday after issuing the bird strike alert’.
An investigation into the tragedy is still underway, with the crash marking South Korea’s worst domestic civil aviation disaster in history.
At the time of writing, recovery efforts are ongoing and the BBC quotes Yonhap news agency as stating the runway will remain closed until New Year’s Day as teams analyse the wreckage.
Jeju Air Boeing 737-800 flight crashed on the morning of December 29 ( JUNG YEON-JE/AFP via Getty Images)
It’s reported the crash has taken the lives of 179 people out of the 181 passengers and members of crew onboard. The two survivors were rushed to hospital and now, loved ones of some of the victims have spoken out.
Maeng Gi-su’s nephew and his nephew’s two sons had been onboard the flight, returning from a holiday in celebration of the youngest son’s college entrance exams being over.
The 78-year-old told the BBC: “I can’t believe the entire family has just disappeared. My heart aches so much.”
A cousin of another passenger onboard the flight told the BBC she had ‘goosebumps’ when she heard of the crash.
“I couldn’t believe it… when the news said one of the victims was from Udon Thani, I was even more surprised,” she said.
Recovery efforts are ongoing (JUNG YEON-JE/AFP via Getty Images)
The government of South Korea has announced a national mourning period of seven days.
In a statement, Boeing said: “We are in contact with Jeju Air regarding flight 2216 and stand ready to support them. We extend our deepest condolences to the families who lost loved ones, and our thoughts remain with the passengers and crew.”
Jeju Air has a banner at the top of its website which reads: “We deeply apologize to all those affected by the incident. We will make every effort to resolve the situation. We sincerely regret the distress caused.”
If you have experienced a bereavement and would like to speak with someone in confidence, contact The Compassionate Friends on (877) 969-0010.
Featured Image Credit: Chris Jung/NurPhoto via Getty Images / BBC
Topics: Travel, World News, Jeju Air
Warning: This article contains graphic images, video and description which some readers may find distressing
A doctor who has been treating one of the survivors of the South Korea plane crash has spoken about what he said when he woke from the devastating incident.
At around 9:03am local time on Sunday (December 29), a 15-year-old Boeing 737-800 jet crash landed at Muan International Airport in South Korea, about 180 miles south of Seoul.
As investigations continue into the crash, it has been confirmed that 179 out of a total of 181 people on board the Jeju Air Flight 2216 have been declared dead in what is South Korea’s worst domestic civil aviation disaster ever.
As authorities try to make sense of what happened, it’s believed that the pilot was forced to make a crash landing at the Muan International Airport when the landing gear of the aircraft failed to deploy.
Footage from the airport showed the plane skidding across the runway without its landing gear open before it collided with the wall and burst into flames.
Director of the Aviation Policy Division at South Korea’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Joo Jong-wan said, as per NBC News, that the pilot ‘declared mayday after issuing the bird strike alert’.
A bird strike is when a plane collides with a bird mid-flight. While the majority have little impact on the aircraft, some can cause significant damage to the engine of a plane.
Investigations into the crash are ongoing (Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)
Following the alert, it is reported that the plane was cleared to land, but in the opposite direction.
Since the devastating incident, it has been confirmed that out of 181 passengers and crew on the flight, 179 sadly died.
There are two survivors of the crash, both crew members, who are now being treated for their injuries at local hospitals.
According to news agency Yonhap, one survivor – a 33-year-old flight attendant – has reportedly told doctors that he ‘woke up and was rescued’.
The news agency quoted a hospital director named Ju Woong who is reported as saying: “He’s fully able to communicate. There’s no indication yet of memory loss or such.”
The crash occurred at around 9:03am local time on December 29 (Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)
As news continues to emerge regarding the circumstances leading up to the crash, according to local media in South Korea, one passenger onboard the flight sent a text to a family member, where they claimed a bird was ‘stuck in the wing’ which was supposedly stopping the plane from landing.
“Should I leave my last words,” the passenger allegedly wrote.
After this message, the relative said that they did not hear from the passenger again.
