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By Bart Meijer
(Reuters) -Uncertainties encompass the deadliest crash on South Korean soil, consultants stated on Sunday, questioning preliminary options {that a} hen strike may need introduced down the Jeju Air flight.
The obvious absence of touchdown gear, the timing of the twin-engine Boeing (NYSE:BA) 737-800’s belly-landing at Muan Worldwide Airport and the reviews of a doable hen strike all raised questions that would not but be answered.
The one-aisle plane was seen in video broadcast on native media skidding down the runway with no seen touchdown gear earlier than slamming right into a wall in an explosion of flame and particles.
“Why did not fireplace tenders lay foam on the runway? Why weren’t they in attendance when the aircraft touched down? And why did the plane contact down up to now down the runway? And why was there a brick wall on the finish of the runway?” stated Airline Information editor Geoffrey Thomas.
South Korean officers stated they had been investigating the reason for the crash of Jeju Air Flight 7C2216, together with a doable hen strike. The crash killed 179 of the 181 individuals on board.
A spokesperson for Jeju Air was not instantly accessible for feedback. Jeju Air declined to touch upon the reason for the accident throughout information conferences, saying an investigation is beneath means.
Beneath world aviation guidelines, South Korea will lead a civil investigation into the crash and robotically contain the Nationwide Transportation Security Board in the USA the place the aircraft was designed and constructed.
The flight knowledge recorder was discovered at 11:30 a.m. (0230 GMT), about two and a half hours after the crash, and the cockpit voice recorder was discovered at 2:24 p.m., in response to South Korea’s transport ministry.
“That offers you all of the parameters of all of the techniques of the aircraft. The heartbeat of the airplane is on the flight knowledge recorder,” Thomas stated. “The voice recorder will in all probability present essentially the most fascinating evaluation of what went on on this tragic crash.”
Specialists warning that air accidents are normally attributable to a cocktail of things and it will possibly take months to piece collectively the sequence of occasions in and outdoors the aircraft.
CHAIN OF EVENTS
Within the area of some minutes, the management tower issued a hen strike warning, pilots declared mayday after which tried to land, officers stated, though it was not clear whether or not the plane had hit any birds.
Specialists stated it appeared unlikely a hen strike would have triggered the touchdown gear to malfunction.
“A hen strike just isn’t uncommon, issues with an undercarriage will not be uncommon. Chook strikes occur much more usually, however usually they do not trigger the lack of an airplane by themselves,” Thomas stated.
Australian airline security skilled Geoffrey Dell (NYSE:DELL) stated, “I’ve by no means seen a hen strike forestall the touchdown gear from being prolonged.”
Australian aviation guide Trevor Jensen stated fireplace and emergency companies would usually be prepared for a belly-landing, “so this seems to be unplanned”.
A hen strike may have impacted the CFM Worldwide engines if a flock had been sucked into them, however that may not have shut them down straightaway, giving the pilots a while to take care of the state of affairs, Dell stated.
It was unclear why the aircraft didn’t decelerate after it hit the runway, Dell and Jensen stated.
Usually in a belly-landing, “You’re going to land in your engines and you are going to have a bumpy trip,” Thomas stated.
“You are available with minimal gasoline, you have got fireplace tenders in attendance, protecting the runway with foam and also you land on the furthest finish of the runway and normally it finally ends up being an OK state of affairs.”
After the management tower issued the hen strike warning and the pilots declared mayday, the pilots tried to land on the runway from the other way, a transport ministry official stated.
“Within the strategy of touchdown it hit a navigation security facility referred to as a localizer and collided with the wall,” the official stated.
Joo Jong-wan, deputy transport minister, stated the runway’s 2,800-metre size was not a contributing issue, and that the partitions on the ends had been constructed in response to requirements.
“Each ends of the runway have security zones with inexperienced buffer areas earlier than reaching the outer wall,” he informed a separate briefing. “The airport is designed in response to commonplace aviation security tips, even when the wall could seem nearer than it truly is.”
The captain had labored at that rank since 2019 and had logged 6,823 flight hours, the ministry stated. The primary officer had labored at that rank since 2023 and had logged roughly 1,650 flight hours.
The Boeing mannequin concerned within the crash, a 737-800, is without doubt one of the world’s most flown airliners with a usually sturdy security document and was developed properly earlier than the MAX variant concerned in a current Boeing security disaster.
