Taipei, Taiwan – Because the investigation into the lethal crash of Jeju Air Flight 2216 stretches into its third day, aviation consultants are elevating questions on what position 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 construction and burst into flames after being compelled 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 fowl 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 stated that the concrete construction, which housed a localiser antenna to assist pilots keep the proper method path, had been constructed based on laws and was just like different buildings at airports world wide.
Nevertheless, some aviation consultants 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, stated the usage of concrete fairly than a steel tower or pylon set up was “uncommon” and should have contributed to the excessive variety of fatalities.
“This inflexible construction proved catastrophic when the skidding plane made an influence,” Meshkati instructed Al Jazeera.
“Undoubtedly, had the plane as an alternative encountered the airport wall, which might have supplied much less resistance, the survival fee might need been greater.”
Hassan Shahidi, president and CEO of the Flight Security Basis, stated that though he wouldn’t speculate on whether or not the construction was badly designed or positioned, buildings on the finish of runways must 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 study 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 instructed Al Jazeera.
South Korean officers have stated the construction was 250 metres from the top of the runway, nearer than the perfect apply normal of 300 metres, based on John Cox, a former 737 pilot who runs aviation consultancy Security Working Methods.
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 applied an “engineered materials arresting system” – also called “EMAS” – able to slowing down or stopping an plane with extreme momentum.
Dane Williams, director of the consultancy Aviation Security Asia, stated 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 influence.
“In additional developed international locations, such mitigation is placed on the top of runways the place believable, the place applicable, and the place economically viable,” Williams instructed Al Jazeera.
“It is usually comprehensible, although, that if a big lake, river or different geophysical location reminiscent of a valley is on the finish of the runway, then a bodily concrete barrier could also be applicable.”
Different airport design options have additionally come underneath scrutiny.
Marco Chan, a pilot and senior lecturer in aviation operations at Buckinghamshire New College, stated 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 circumstances, which had been calm … or if different operational concerns influenced it,” Chan instructed Al Jazeera.
South Korean investigators, aided by officers from the US Nationwide Transportation Security Board, are analyzing a spread of doable situations, together with a fowl strike and plane techniques failure.
Preliminary findings about the reason for the catastrophe aren’t prone to be launched for weeks. It’s doable that some or the entire theories raised by officers and analysts will not be confirmed by the probe.
“If you’re doing an investigation, you don’t simply have a look at the plane. You have a look at the human aspect, which means trying into the pilots, trying into air visitors management, trying into upkeep, then you definately have a look at the machine,” Anthony Brickhouse, a veteran US-based aerospace security knowledgeable, instructed Al Jazeera.
“What occurred to that plane that prevented them from placing the touchdown gear down?”
Whereas fowl strikes have been blamed for contributing to plenty of air crashes, together with the lethal 2019 crash of Ethiopian Airways Flight 302, a collision with a fowl would by itself be unlikely to deliver down a contemporary plane, based on aviation consultants.
Greater than 13,000 fowl 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 study whether or not a fowl may have broken crucial techniques, reminiscent of engines and hydraulics, resulting in “cascading failures, together with hydraulic points or the lack to deploy touchdown gear”, Chan stated.
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 stated.
Brickhouse stated 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 pal to sluggish you down. Sadly, it doesn’t seem the plane was on the runway lengthy sufficient to decelerate,” Brickhouse stated.
South Korea’s transport ministry stated on Tuesday that the “black field” flight recorder was recovered from the crash web site with key items lacking and authorities had been reviewing methods to extract the info.
The Nationwide Police Company stated it was deploying extra personnel and utilizing fast DNA evaluation to expedite the identification of the crash victims as relations 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.
