By Bart Meijer and Lisa Barrington
(Reuters) – Uncertainty surrounds the deadliest plane crash on South Korean soil, aviation experts said on Sunday, questioning how much impact a possible bird strike cited by authorities could have had in the downing of the Jeju Air flight.
The apparent absence of landing gear, the timing of the belly landing of the twin-engine Boeing (NYSE:) 737-800 at Muan International Airport and reports of a possible bird strike raised questions that could not yet be answered.
The single-aisle plane was seen in a video broadcast by local media sliding down the runway without its landing gear deployed before crashing into a wall in an explosion of flames and debris.
“At this point there are many more questions than answers. Why was the plane going so fast? Why weren't the flaps open? Why weren't the landing gear down?” said Gregory Alegi, an aviation expert and former professor at Italy's air force academy.
South Korean officials are investigating the crash of Jeju Air Flight 7C2216, including the impact of a possible bird strike and weather. 179 of the 181 people on board died.
Vice Transport Minister Joo Jong-wan said the runway's length of 2,800 meters was not a contributing factor and that the end walls were built to industry standards.
A Jeju Air spokesperson was not immediately available for comment. Jeju Air declined to comment on the cause during news conferences, saying an investigation is underway.
Christian Beckert, flight safety expert and Lufthansa pilot, said the video suggested that, apart from the reverse gears, most of the plane's braking systems were not activated, creating a “big problem” and a landing. fast.
Beckert said it was unlikely that the bird strike would have damaged the landing gear while it was still up, and that if it had happened when it was down, it would have been difficult to raise it again.
“It's really very rare and very unusual not to downshift, because there are independent systems where we can downshift with an alternative system,” he said.
The investigation should offer a clearer picture, he added.
Under global aviation rules, South Korea will lead a civilian investigation and involve the National Transportation Safety Board in the United States, where the plane was manufactured.
Experts say plane crashes are often caused by a cocktail of factors and it can take months to piece together the sequence of events.
The flight data recorder was found at 11:30 a.m. (0230 GMT), about two and a half hours after the crash, and the cockpit voice recorder at 2:24 p.m., South Korean officials said.
Australian aviation consultant Trevor Jensen said fire and emergency services would normally be ready for a belly landing, “so this appears to be unplanned.”
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Within the space of a few minutes, the control tower issued a bird strike warning, the pilots declared distress and then attempted to land, authorities said, although it was unclear whether the plane had struck any birds.
“A bird strike is not unusual, landing gear problems are not unusual. Bird strikes occur much more frequently, but they typically do not alone cause the loss of an airplane,” the Airline News editor said. , Geoffrey Thomas.
A bird strike could have hit CFM International's engines if a flock had been engulfed by them, but that would not have shut them down immediately, giving pilots some time to react, Australian airline safety expert Geoffrey Dell said. (NYSE:).
After the bird strike warning and emergency declaration, the pilots attempted to land on the runway in the opposite direction, a Transportation Ministry official said.
That change of plan raised more questions for investigators, said Marco Chan, a senior lecturer in aviation operations at Buckinghamshire New University and a former pilot.
“It was also switched in the opposite direction quite late, which increased the workload,” Chan said. “At this stage there are a lot of guessing games.”
The captain of the Boeing 737-800 plane had worked at that range since 2019 and logged 6,823 flight hours, the South Korean government said. The first officer had worked at that rank since 2023 and had logged approximately 1,650 flight hours.
The 737-800 is one of the most flown aircraft in the world with a generally strong safety record. It was developed long before the MAX variant was involved in a recent Boeing safety crisis.
The birds hitting the plane alone are unlikely to explain the magnitude of the disaster, said Italian aviation expert Alegi.
“Of course there could have been a bird strike,” he said. “But the consequences are too great for this to be the direct cause of the accident.”
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