Did bird strikes contribute to the South Korean plane crash? What we know

More than 170 people have died after death The plane crashed when it landed in South Korea on sunday morning.

The Jeju Air plane went down the runway before crashing into a wall at the Muan International Airport in the southwest of the country.

The plane, which was returning from Bangkok, Thailand, was carrying 181 people – 179 of them died, and two crew members were rescued in the crash.

Authorities are investigating the cause of the accident, which fire officials said may have been caused by bird strikes and bad weather. However, experts have warned that the accident may have been caused by many factors.

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

The flight arrived in Muan at approximately 09:00 local time (00:00 GMT).

A South Korean transport official said the plane was trying to land but was forced to stop after air traffic controllers issued a bird strike warning – a warning about the risk of collision with birds.

About two minutes later, the pilot called a mayday command and gave permission for the plane to land from the opposite direction, the official said.

One passenger on the plane texted a relative, saying there was a bird “stuck in the wing” and that the plane could not land, local media reported.

One video appears to show the plane touching down without using its wheels or other landing gear. It skidded off the runway and hit a wall before bursting into flames.

A witness told South Korean news agency Yonhap that they heard a “loud sound” followed by a “series of explosions”.

Videos from the scene show the plane billowing in smoke in the sky. Firefighters have extinguished the fire.

Lee Jeong-hyun, chief of the Muan fire department, told a television news conference that part of the plane’s tail was visible but “he could not see the condition of the rest of the plane”.

He said that bird strikes and bad weather may have caused the accident – but the cause is still being investigated. The plane and the flight recorders were found.

Jeju Air’s chief executive said the crash was not caused by “any maintenance problems”, Yonhap news agency reported.

South Korea’s Ministry of Transport said the main pilot on the plane had been involved since 2019 and had more than 6,800 hours of flight experience.

A bird strike is a collision between an aircraft in flight and a bird. They are very common – in the UK, there were more than 1,400 bird strikes reported in 2022, of which only about 100 affected aircraft, according to the report. data from the Civil Aviation Authority.

The most famous bird strike occurred in 2009, when the The Airbus plane crashed 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 the article The conversation this summer that Boeing planes have turbofan engines, which can be seriously damaged in a bird strike.

He said pilots are trained to be especially alert at dawn or dusk, when the birds are most active.

The plane was carrying 175 passengers and six crew members. Two of the passengers were Thai and the others were believed to be South Koreans, authorities said. Many are thought to have been returning from a Christmas holiday in Thailand.

The official death toll stands at 179 – making it the deadliest plane crash in South Korean history.

All four passengers and crew died.

Authorities have identified at least 88 bodies.

Five of the dead were children under the age of 10. The youngest passenger was a three-year-old boy and the oldest was 78, authorities said, citing the passenger manifest.

South Korea’s National Fire Agency said two crew members – a man and a woman – survived the crash. They were found near the tail of the plane after the crash and were taken to the hospital, he said.

More than 1,500 emergency workers have been deployed as part of recovery efforts, including 490 firefighters and 455 police officers. They have been searching the area around the runway for parts of the plane and those on board.

Acting President Choi Sang-mok declared a special disaster zone in Muan, making central government funding available to the local government and victims.

All flights to and from Muan International Airport have been cancelled.

The families of those who died in this accident have been heading to the airport in the hope of finding out what happened to their relatives. Video from Reuters shows officials reading the names of the victims aloud.

Airport authorities and the Red Cross have set up more than ten tents at the airport for bereaved families to mourn in private.

The sounds of crying echoed through the terminal. Others are frustrated by how long it is taking to identify the bodies.

Jeju Air apologized to the families. Its CEO said in a press conference that the airline has no history of accidents. Sunday’s accident is believed to be the only fatal accident since the company was launched in 2005.

Aircraft manufacturer Boeing expressed its condolences to those affected.

Choi, South Korea’s acting president, said: “I express my deepest condolences to the many victims of this incident. I will do everything I can for the injured to recover quickly.”

The government has announced a period of national mourning for the next seven days, during which flags will be lowered in government offices.