By Bart Meijer and Lisa Barrington
(Reuters) -Uncertainty surrounds the deadliest airplane crash on South Korean soil, aviation consultants mentioned on Sunday, questioning how a lot affect a possible fowl strike cited by authorities may have had in bringing down the Jeju Air flight.
The obvious absence of touchdown gear, the timing of the twin-engine Boeing (NYSE:) 737-800’s stomach touchdown at Muan Worldwide Airport and the experiences of a potential fowl strike all raised questions that might not but be answered.
The one-aisle plane was seen in video broadcast on native media skidding down the runway with no touchdown gear deployed earlier than hitting a wall in an explosion of flame and particles.
“At this level there are much more questions than we have now solutions. Why was the airplane going so quick? Why have been the flaps not open? Why was the touchdown gear not down?” mentioned Gregory Alegi, an aviation professional and former trainer at Italy’s air pressure academy.
South Korean officers are investigating the crash of Jeju Air Flight 7C2216, together with the affect of a possible fowl strike and the climate. 179 of 181 individuals on board died.
Deputy Transport Minister Joo Jong-wan mentioned the runway’s 2,800-metre size was not a contributing issue, and that partitions on the ends have been constructed to trade requirements.
A spokesperson for Jeju Air was not instantly obtainable for remark. Jeju Air declined to touch upon the trigger throughout information conferences, saying an investigation is underneath means.
Christian Beckert, a flight security professional and Lufthansa pilot, mentioned the video footage urged that apart from the reversers, a lot of the airplane’s braking techniques weren’t activated, making a “huge drawback” and a quick touchdown.
Beckert mentioned a fowl strike was unlikely to have broken the touchdown gear whereas it was nonetheless up, and that if it had occurred when it was down, it will have been arduous to boost once more.
“It is actually, actually very uncommon and really uncommon to not decrease the gear, as a result of there are impartial techniques the place we are able to decrease the gear with an alternate system,” he mentioned.
The probe ought to paint a clearer image, he added.
Beneath international aviation guidelines, South Korea will lead a civil investigation and contain the Nationwide Transportation Security Board in the US the place the airplane was made.
Specialists say air accidents are normally attributable to a cocktail of things and that it may take months to piece collectively the sequence of occasions.
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 at 2:24 p.m., South Korean officers mentioned.
Australian aviation guide Trevor Jensen mentioned hearth and emergency providers would usually be prepared for a stomach touchdown, “so this seems to be unplanned”.
CHAIN OF EVENTS
Within the area of some minutes, the management tower issued a fowl strike warning, pilots declared mayday after which tried to land, officers mentioned, though it was not clear whether or not the plane had hit any birds.
“A fowl strike isn’t uncommon, issues with an undercarriage should not uncommon. Hen strikes occur much more typically, however sometimes they do not trigger the lack of an airplane by themselves,” mentioned Airline Information editor Geoffrey Thomas.
A fowl 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 react, Australian airline security professional Geoffrey Dell (NYSE:) mentioned.
After the fowl strike warning and the mayday declaration, the pilots tried to land on the runway from the other way, a transport ministry official mentioned.
That change of plan raised extra questions for investigators, mentioned Marco Chan, a senior lecturer in aviation operations at Buckinghamshire New College and a former pilot.
“It was modified to the other way pretty late as effectively, which added to the workload,” Chan mentioned. “It is quite a lot of guessing video games at this stage.”
The captain of the Boeing 737-800 airplane had labored at that rank since 2019 and logged 6,823 flight hours, the South Korean authorities mentioned. The primary officer had labored at that rank since 2023 and had logged roughly 1,650 flight hours.
The 737-800 is without doubt one of the world’s most flown airliners with a typically robust security file. It was developed effectively earlier than the MAX variant concerned in a latest Boeing security disaster.
Birds hitting the airplane alone have been unlikely to elucidate the size of the catastrophe, mentioned Italian aviation professional Alegi.
“In fact there might need been a fowl strike,” he mentioned. “However the penalties are a lot too huge for that to be the direct reason for the accident.”
