South Korean air disaster prompts investigation into concrete runway embankment aviation news

Taipei, Taiwan – As the investigation into the deadly crash of Jeju Air Flight 2216 reaches its third day, aviation experts are raising questions about what role the concrete structure at the end of the runway at South Korea’s Muan International Airport may have played in the crash, among other things. Factors other than.

The Boeing 737-800 crashed into a concrete embankment and burst into flames after being forced to make an emergency landing on Sunday morning, killing 179 of the 181 people on board in the deadliest plane crash ever on South Korean soil. People died.

The pilot reported a bird strike to air traffic control moments before the aircraft overturned on the runway after failing to deploy its landing gear and overshooting the landing zone.

South Korean officials have said the concrete embankment, which housed a local antenna to help pilots maintain the correct approach path, was built according to regulations and was similar to other structures at airports around the world.

However, some aviation experts have questioned the choice and location of the structure, suggesting that the disaster could have been avoided with better airport design.

Najmedin Meshkati, a civil engineering professor at the University of Southern California, said the use of concrete rather than metal tower or pylon installation was “unusual” and could have led to a large number of deaths.

“This rigid structure proved disastrous when the sliding aircraft made impact,” Meshkati told Al Jazeera.

“Undoubtedly, if the plane had encountered the airport wall, which would have provided less resistance, the survival rate might have been higher.”

Hassan Shahidi, president and CEO of the Flight Safety Foundation, said that although he would not speculate on whether the embankment was incorrectly designed or deployed, the structures at the end of the runway would be less vulnerable to collisions in the event of a collision under international civil aviation. Must be made to break through. Organization Guidelines.

“The standards also define the proximity of such structures near the end of the runway. “Investigators will examine the concrete structure at the end of the runway to determine whether it complies with these standards, including its placement and proximity to the end of the runway,” Shahidi told Al Jazeera.

South Korean officials have said the structure was 250 meters from the end of the runway, closer than the best practice standard of 300 meters, according to John Cox, a former 737 pilot who runs the aviation consultancy Safety Operating Systems.

Experts also questioned whether the runway had sufficient overrun area or, as is the case with other airports with limited space, whether an “engineered material arresting system” – also known as “EMAS” – should have been implemented. Is – which is capable of slowing or stopping the aircraft. With great speed.

Dan Williams, director of consultancy Aviation Safety Asia, said some advanced airports have post-runway areas where sand, gravel or other slow-moving material is used to reduce aircraft speed and avoid a thrust impact. goes.

“In more developed countries, such mitigation is placed at the end of the runway where plausible, where appropriate and where economically viable,” Williams told Al Jazeera.

“However, it also makes sense that if another geophysical location such as a large lake, river or valley is at the end of the runway, a physical concrete barrier may be appropriate.”

Other design features of the airport have also come under scrutiny.

Marco Chan, a pilot and senior lecturer in aviation operations at Buckinghamshire New University, said the choice of the -0.2 percent downward slope runway “raises further questions about its suitability for emergency landings”.

“Investigators will explore whether the decision was based on weather conditions, which were calm… or whether other operational considerations influenced it,” Chan told Al Jazeera.

South Korean investigators, assisted by officials from the United States National Transportation Safety Board, are examining several possible scenarios, including bird strike and failure of aircraft systems.

Preliminary findings about the cause of the disaster are not likely to be released for weeks. It is possible that some or all of the theories raised by officials and analysts will not be confirmed by investigation.

“When you’re investigating, you don’t just look at the plane. You look at the human element, that is, look at the pilots, look at air traffic control, look at maintenance, then you look at the machine,” Anthony Brickhouse, an experienced US-based aerospace security expert, told Al Jazeera.

“What happened to that plane that stopped them from putting the landing gear down?”

While bird strikes have been blamed for several air accidents, including the 2019 fatal crash of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, a collision with a bird would be unlikely to bring down a modern aircraft, according to aviation experts. .

More than 13,000 bird strikes are reported to ICAO each year, of which only a small portion result in damage to the aircraft or disruption of flight.

In the case of Flight 2216, investigators will examine whether a bird could have damaged critical systems such as engines and hydraulics, leading to “widespread failures including hydraulic issues or inability to deploy the landing gear,” Chan said.

Analysts were particularly puzzled by the speed of the plane’s descent and the failure to deploy its landing gear.

Video footage of the disaster also showed that the front section of the plane did not fully descend before it flew out of frame and exploded.

Chan said, “Video footage shows that the aircraft was approaching at relatively high speed, raising questions about whether the aircraft was properly configured for landing or whether system failures caused the major deceleration mechanisms to operate. Was stopped from doing.”

Brickhouse said footage of the crash also noted that the plane landed just short of the runway.

“In landing, friction is going to be your friend to slow you down. Unfortunately, it doesn’t appear the plane was on the runway long enough to slow down, Brickhouse said.

South Korea’s transport ministry said Tuesday that a “black box” flight recorder has been recovered from the crash site, with key pieces missing, and officials are reviewing how to extract the data.

The national police agency said it was deploying more personnel and using rapid DNA analysis to speed up identification of crash victims as family members flocked to Hawaii to demand more information about their loved ones. Had gathered at the base.

South Korea’s acting President Choi Sang-mok has ordered an emergency safety inspection of the country’s entire airline operations, while officials are separately inspecting all Boeing 737-800s in operation in the country.