Taipei, Taiwan – Because the investigation into the lethal crash of Jeju Air Flight 2216 stretches into its third day, aviation specialists are elevating questions on what function a concrete construction on the finish of the runway at South Korea’s Muan Worldwide Airport could have performed within the accident, amongst different components.
The Boeing 737-800 slammed right into a concrete embankment and burst into flames after being pressured to make an emergency touchdown on Sunday morning, killing 179 of 181 folks on board within the deadliest-ever aircraft crash on South Korean soil.
The pilot had reported a chicken strike to air visitors management moments earlier than the plane belly-flopped on the runway after failing to deploy its touchdown gear and overshooting the touchdown zone.
South Korean authorities have mentioned that the concrete embankment, which housed a localiser antenna to assist pilots preserve the right method path, had been constructed in response to laws and was just like different buildings at airports around the globe.
Nonetheless, some aviation specialists have questioned the selection and placement of the construction, suggesting that the catastrophe could have been avoidable with higher airport design.
Najmedin Meshkati, a professor in civil engineering on the College of Southern California, mentioned the usage of concrete somewhat than a metallic tower or pylon set up was “uncommon” and will have contributed to the excessive variety of fatalities.
“This inflexible construction proved catastrophic when the skidding plane made an affect,” Meshkati informed Al Jazeera.
“Undoubtedly, had the plane as a substitute encountered the airport wall, which might have supplied much less resistance, the survival price may need been increased.”
Hassan Shahidi, president and CEO of the Flight Security Basis, mentioned that whereas he wouldn’t speculate on whether or not the embankment was badly designed or positioned, buildings on the finish of runways needs to be constructed to interrupt simply within the occasion of collision underneath Worldwide Civil Aviation Group tips.
“The requirements additionally outline the proximity of such buildings close to runway ends. The investigators will look at the concrete construction on the finish of the runway to find out if it complied with these requirements, together with its placement and proximity to the top of the runway,” Shahidi informed Al Jazeera.
South Korean officers have mentioned the construction was 250 metres from the top of the runway, nearer than one of the best follow commonplace of 300 metres, in response to John Cox, a former 737 pilot who runs aviation consultancy Security Working Techniques.
Specialists additionally questioned whether or not the runway had an ample overrun space or, as within the case of different airports with restricted house, ought to have carried out an “engineered materials arresting system” – also referred to as “EMAS” – able to slowing down or stopping an plane with extreme momentum.
Dane Williams, director of the consultancy Aviation Security Asia, mentioned that some superior airports have areas after the runway that use sand, gravel or one other slowing substance to cut back an plane’s pace and keep away from a forceful affect.
“In additional developed nations, such mitigation is placed on the top of runways the place believable, the place acceptable, and the place economically viable,” Williams informed Al Jazeera.
“It is usually comprehensible, although, that if a big lake, river or different geophysical location resembling a valley is on the finish of the runway, then a bodily concrete barrier could also be acceptable.”
Different airport design options have additionally come underneath scrutiny.
Marco Chan, a pilot and senior lecturer in aviation operations at Buckinghamshire New College, mentioned the selection of a runway with a -0.2 p.c downward slope raised “additional questions on its suitability for an emergency touchdown”.
“Investigators will discover whether or not this resolution factored in climate situations, which had been calm … or if different operational issues influenced it,” Chan informed Al Jazeera.
South Korean investigators, aided by officers from america Nationwide Transportation Security Board, are inspecting a spread of doable eventualities, together with a chicken strike and plane programs failure.
Preliminary findings about the reason for the catastrophe are usually not prone to be launched for weeks. It’s doable that some or the entire theories raised by officers and analysts won’t be confirmed by the probe.
“Whenever you’re doing an investigation, you don’t simply have a look at the plane. You have a look at the human factor, which means trying into the pilots, trying into air visitors management, trying into upkeep, you then have a look at the machine,” Anthony Brickhouse, a veteran US-based aerospace security skilled, informed Al Jazeera.
“What occurred to that plane that prevented them from placing the touchdown gear down?”
Whereas chicken strikes have been blamed for contributing to a lot of air crashes, together with the lethal 2019 crash of Ethiopian Airways Flight 302, a collision with a chicken would by itself be unlikely to convey down a contemporary plane, in response to aviation specialists.
Greater than 13,000 chicken strikes are reported to the ICAO annually, solely a tiny fraction of which lead to plane injury or flight interruptions.
Within the case of Flight 2216, investigators will look at whether or not a chicken may have broken crucial programs, resembling engines and hydraulics, resulting in “cascading failures, together with hydraulic points or the lack to deploy touchdown gear”, Chan mentioned.
Analysts have been particularly perplexed by the pace at which the aircraft landed and its failure to deploy its touchdown gear.
Video footage of the catastrophe additionally confirmed that the nostril of the aircraft by no means totally got here down earlier than the plane flew out of body and exploded.
“The video footage suggests the plane was approaching at a comparatively excessive pace, elevating questions on whether or not the plane was correctly configured for touchdown or if system failures prevented key deceleration mechanisms from functioning,” Chan mentioned.
Brickhouse mentioned that it was additionally notable from footage of the crash that the plane had landed a way down the runway.
“In a touchdown, friction goes to be your buddy to sluggish you down. Sadly, it doesn’t seem the plane was on the runway lengthy sufficient to decelerate,” Brickhouse mentioned.
South Korea’s transport ministry mentioned on Tuesday that the “black field” flight recorder was recovered from the crash website with key items lacking and authorities had been reviewing how you can extract the information.
The Nationwide Police Company mentioned it was deploying extra personnel and utilizing speedy DNA evaluation to expedite the identification of the crash victims as members of the family gathered on the airport to demand extra details about their family members.
South Korea’s appearing President Choi Sang-mok has ordered an emergency security inspection of the nation’s whole airline operations, whereas authorities are individually finishing up inspections of all Boeing 737-800s in operation within the nation.
