Troubled Landing Wheel, Airju Plane Turns Back After Off Landas

UNSPLASH/insung YOON ILLUSTRATION

Pesju Air plane that was flying in South Korea on Monday turned back to its original airport due to landing gear problems. Similar problems were also found in the fatal crash of a similar model plane the day before.

Jeju Air said that the Flight Jeju Air 7C101, which took off from Gimpo International Airport to Jeju on Monday, December 30, at 06.37 local time, was detected having problems with the landing gear shortly after takeoff.

The airline informed 161 aircraft passengers about the mechanical damage caused by the landing gear problem, and then decided to return to Gimpo at 07.25.

Reported by ANTARA from Yonhap-OANA, the passengers were transferred to an alternative plane with the same aircraft model, namely the Boeing B737-800, and departed for Jeju at 08.30. However, 21 passengers chose not to board the plane again because they were worried about safety.

According to Song Kyung-hoon, head of Jeju Air's management support office, the flight captain contacted the ground control center after detecting a signal showing problems with the landing gear.

"Although landing gear has been confirmed to be functioning normally after additional action, the captain decided to return to the airport for safety checks," Song said at a news conference.

Landing gear is an important device directly linked to flight safety, which ensures takeoff and landing are safe and reduces impact during emergency landings.

The plane crashJeju Air on Sunday (29/12) which claimed 179 lives in Muan district, southwest South Korea, is believed to have a problem in the form of the three landing wheels failing to operate properly.

Meanwhile, the plane that made a U-turn on Monday was the same model as the plane that was injured the previous day. Jeju Air operates 39 units of B737-800 out of a total of 41 aircraft in its fleet.