South Korean Authorities Investigate Possible Airport Embankments And Bird Attacks Caused By Jeju Air Accidents

JAKARTA - The South Korean Authority (South Korea) investigated a number of possible causes of the deadly Jeju Air accident, including checking bird strikes and the presence of airport embankments, when the investigation process was increased on Tuesday.

The Boeing 737-800 aircraft belonging to Jeju Air airline with flight number 7C2216 and registration of HL8088 from Suvarnabhumi International Airport, Thailand had a fatal accident while landing at Muan International Airport, South Korea on December 29.

The plane carrying 175 passengers and six crew members on the flight turned into fireball after making an emergency landing and hitting the wall. Only two crew members survived the incident.

The National Police Agency said it was making maximum efforts by adding personnel and rapid DNA analysis to accelerate the identification of five bodies that had not been identified as of Tuesday.

The Ministry of Transportation said the black box of flight recorders found from the crash site lost its main connector and authorities were reviewing how to extract its data.

Investigators are examining bird collisions, whether any aircraft control systems have been deactivated, and the pilot's rush to try to land immediately after declaring a state of emergency as a possible cause of the crash, fire and transport officials said.

Officials also faced sharp questions about design features at airports, particularly large earth embankments and concrete near the end of the runway used to support navigation equipment.

The plane hit the embankment at high speed and exploded into a fireball. The bodies and body parts scattered into the surrounding fields and most of the planes were destroyed in the flames.

"Unfortunately, the object was the reason everyone died because they actually hit a concrete structure," Captain Ross "Rusty" Aider, CEO of Aero Consulting Experts, told Reuters.

"There shouldn't be (barves) there," he added.

Officials from the Ministry of Transportation said most South Korean airports were built under the rules of the International Civil Aviation Organization which recommended a 240-meter (262-yard) long runway safety area, although domestic law allowed the adjustment of the locations of several installations within a range that did not "significantly affect the performance of the facility".

"However, we will examine whether there is a conflict in our own regulations, and conduct additional reviews of our airport safety standards," Kim Hong-rak, director general of the policies of air navigation facilities and airports, said at a briefing.

"The United States Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) uses different standards," Kim added.

Meanwhile, the CEO of Safety Operating Systems and former 737 pilot John Cox said the runway design "at all (no)" met the industry's best practice, which prohibits the presence of hard structures such as embankments within at least 300 meters (330 yards) of the end of the runway.

The airport's concrete embankment appears to be less than half the distance from the end of the violence, according to satellite imagery analysis of Reuters.

South Korean officials said the distance was about 250 meters (273 yards) from the end of the runway itself, even though the asphalted apron spanned it.

In the video footage, the plane appears to be slowing down and under control on the exit of the runway, Cox said.

"When he hit the embankment, tragedy ensued," he said.

Meanwhile, representatives from the US National Transportation Safety Agency (NTSB), the Federal Aviation Administration, and aircraft manufacturer Boeing have joined the investigative agency.

The NTSB said in a statement it had sent three investigators including people specializing in operational factors and airworthiness to South Korea to assist with the investigation.

"If we need more specialists, we will send them," said NestB chairman Jennifer Homendy in an interview.

Yesterday, South Korean President Choi Sang-mok ordered an emergency safety check on all airline operations in Ginseng Country, as investigators sought to find out what caused the country's deadliest air disaster.