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

Greater than 170 folks have died after a aircraft crashed because it was touchdown 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 fireplace officers have indicated might have occurred attributable to a fowl strike and unhealthy climate. Nonetheless specialists have warned the crash might have been brought on by a variety of elements.

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

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

A South Korean transport official stated 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 referred to as in a Mayday and air visitors command gave permission for the aircraft to land from the wrong way, the official stated.

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.

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

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

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

Lee Jeong-hyun, the chief of the Muan fireplace division, instructed 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 stated that the fowl strike and unhealthy climate might have induced the crash – however that the precise trigger continues to be being investigated. The flight and voice recorders from the aircraft have been recovered.

The top of Jeju Air’s administration stated that the crash was not attributable to “any upkeep points”, the Yonhap information company reported.

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

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 keeping with information from the Civil Aviation Authority.

The most effective identified fowl strike occurred in 2009, when an Airbus aircraft ditched into 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 Dialog this summer time that Boeing planes have turbofan engines, which will be severely broken in a fowl strike.

He stated that pilots are educated to be particularly vigilant in the course of the early morning or at sundown, when birds are most lively.

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 stated. 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 thus far recognized not less than 88 our bodies.

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

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

Greater than 1,500 emergency personnel have been deployed as a part of restoration efforts, together with 490 fireplace workers and 455 law enforcement officials. They’ve been looking out the world across the runway for components of the aircraft and people who have been onboard.

Appearing 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 family members. Video footage from Reuters reveals 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 by the terminal. Some are annoyed at how lengthy it’s taking to determine the our bodies.

Jeju Air has apologised to households. Its chief govt stated 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 because the airline was launched in 2005.

Airplane producer Boeing has supplied condolences to these affected.

Choi, South Korea’s performing president, stated: “I specific my deepest condolences to the numerous victims within the incident. I’ll do all I can for the injured to rapidly get well.”

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