No Notification, Pilot With Concrete Structure Experience At Muan Gundukan Airport Ordinary Land

Muan International Airport. (Wikimedia Commons/LERK)

JAKARTA - A surprising confession came from an experienced pilot about the concrete structure at Muan International Airport, South Korea, which was in the spotlight behind the tragedy of the plane belonging to the Jeju Air airline that occurred last Sunday.

The senior pilot, who has worked at the airport for seven years, testified that he was never informed of the presence of a concrete mound housing a localizer at the end of the airport runway, unable to distinguish it from the mound.

The concrete structure is believed to have exacerbated the severity of the accident significantly, as the collision of the plane with a solid mound during the emergency landing was thought to have triggered a catastrophic explosion.

The pilot and flight instructor with the initials A, who has been using Muan Airport for seven years, told Yonhap News on Thursday, "I've seen the mound from the air during countless takeoffs and landings and assumed it was a pile of soil. I never thought of it made of concrete," quoted from The Korea Times Jan. 3.

"There are no indications in the airport map or separate guidelines that mention the mound is a 2 meter high concrete structure and 4 meters thick. Other pilots are also unaware of its original nature," he said.

Furthermore, he also discussed the problem of bird collisions, which have been suspected to be the possible cause of the accident.

He said the pilot regularly monitors bird activity using the Airport Terminal Information Service (ATIS).

"In my experience, bird collisions occur about once a year, usually affect the wings. We always check weather conditions through frequency transmission, and Muan Airport has issued a warning of bird activity every day recently, with air traffic controllers letting us know if there are birds on the runway," he explained.

As previously reported, the Boeing 737-800 aircraft belonging to Jeju Air airline with flight number 7C2216 and registration 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.

Aviation experts on Tuesday highlighted the need to revise airport safety rules regulations, including those related to the runway safety zone, as the spotlight points to a concrete structure near the runway that may exacerbate the severity of casualties in the Jeju Air crash.

The existence of a concrete structure is also material for the investigation of the tragedy investigator to find the cause of the accident, in addition to possible bird strikes.

South Korean authorities (South Korea) are investigating a number of possible causes of the deadly Jeju Air accident, including examining bird strikes and the presence of airport embankments, when the investigation process was increased on Tuesday.

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.