An aviation expert has weighed in on the devastating events that unfolded on South Korea on December 29.
On the day in question, a Jeju Air flight crash-landed at Muan International Airport, located 290km south of Seoul.
Horrifying footage shows the moment the plane skid onto the tarmac after its landing gear failed, before crashing into a concrete wall and erupting into flames.
179 people of the 181 on board the aircraft died in what’s been dubbed as the country’s most deadline plane crash.
An investigation into the matter has since begun by South Korean authorities, but a cause of the crash is yet to be revealed.
There’s been much speculation about it all though, with initial reports suggesting it was down to a bird strike.
In an update given on Tuesday (December 31), Jeju Air CEO Kim Yi-bae said that pre-flight inspection of the Boeing 737-800, including its landing gear, showed ‘nothing abnormal’, BBC News reports.
Investigators have since started inspecting aircraft’s black boxes.
While Korean officials haven’t suggested any foul play in relation to the crash, aviation expert Professor Ron Bartsch has said ‘something sinister’ may have happened.
A Jeju Air Boeing 737-800 series aircraft crashed on December 29 (JUNG YEON-JE/AFP via Getty Images)
Speaking on Australia’s Today, Bartsch said: “I suspect that the initial reports that have indicated that birdstrike or weather may have been a contributing factor, but to me, that’s pretty unlikely that a birdstrike alone would be sufficient to bring down an aircraft or to foresee landing gear not to be able to be operative.”
He continued, as per 9News: “Obviously the pilot would have known the high risk of landing without the availability of reverse thrust or flaps to slow the aircraft down coming into land.
“So it may have been, and this is only speculation, that there may have been something more sinister on board the aircraft that could have caused it.”
Bartsch went on to described the Boeing 737-800 as a ‘very reliable and safe aircraft’.
Professor Ron Bartsch suggested something ‘sinister’ may have happened (Today/9News)
Elsewhere, others have said that the incident wouldn’t have proven so deadly if the concrete wall wasn’t near the runway.
In fact, David Learmount, who is the operations and safety editor of Flight International magazine and an aviation expert, went as far as labelling it as ‘criminal’ having it there.
“Not only is there no justification [for the wall to be there], I think it’s verging on criminal to have it there,” he told Sky News.
“That kind of structure should not be there. That is awful. That is unbelievably awful.
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Featured Image Credit: 9News/JUNG YEON-JE/Getty
Topics: Jeju Air, Korea, News, World News, Travel
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.”
