Jeju Air crash: Govt says to wait for official probe as speculations abound over cause

SEOUL – The South Korean government has said it will announce the exact cause of the crash of a Jeju Air plane on Dec 29 as soon as the authorities complete their investigation.

It said it wanted to take a prudent approach, as theories of bird strike or gear malfunction were being suggested as possibly causing

one of the worst air traffic tragedies in South Korea’s history.

Mr Ju Jong-wan, director of aviation policy at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, said it would be best for the authorities to finish conducting a thorough investigation into the crash of Jeju Air Flight 2216 before making any announcement to avoid confusion.

“As soon as the accident has been dealt with, we will probe the cause of the accident through officials and provide a briefing on the results,” he said at a news briefing.

Mr Ju dismissed speculation that the relatively short runway at the Muan International Airport contributed to the deadly crash in any way.

“The runway is 2,800m long and has been used by C-type airplanes... It would be safe to assume that the length of the runway is not why the accident occurred,” he said.

C-type aircraft refers to the International Civil Aviation Organisation’s categorisation of aircraft with a wingspan between 24m and 36m. The plane in the crash was a Boeing 737-800, which has a wingspan of 35.8m.

Mr Ju refrained from commenting in detail on a potential bird strike or landing gear malfunction, each of which has been speculated to be the direct cause of the accident.

“An actual probe’s result may be different from what is presumed from seeing with one’s eyes... We would be able to know the cause only after a precise investigation,” he said.

Mr Lee Jeong-hyun, chief of the Muan fire station, said the cause “is presumed to be a bird strike combined with adverse weather conditions”.

“However, the exact cause will be announced following a joint investigation,” he added. 

It is unclear if the pilots of the aircraft attempted a go-around, which is to abort landing on a final approach or when having already touched down.

The ministry said it will check to see if the pilots attempted such a procedure through communication records with the control tower at the airport.

‘Last words’

While officials are cautious about pinpointing the exact cause of the accident, testimony from eyewitnesses led many to believe it could have been caused by a landing gear malfunction from birds striking one of the engines.

It was reported earlier that one of the passengers on the ill-fated aircraft sent a family member text messages to that effect while on board, right before the plane attempted the landing at around 9am (8am in Singapore).

“A bird is stuck in the wing, and we can’t land. Just now. Should I leave my last words?” the passenger had been quoted as saying.

However, several experts said bird strikes

do not typically cause the landing gears of aeroplanes to malfunction.

An unconfirmed video of a plane apparently having a small explosion in the air circulated online early on Dec 29, with rumours it was of the Jeju Air flight.

But the authorities said they cannot confirm the authenticity of the video, and they did not know where the video came from.

Flight 2216 was scheduled to land at Muan International Airport after taking off from Bangkok, but it overshot the runway due to an unconfirmed cause. It collided with the perimeter fence and ignited, leading to an explosion and fire.

At least 120 people were reported to have died in the crash landing as at 2.40pm local time, out of 175 passengers and six crew on board.

Two people were confirmed to have been rescued and were being treated at hospitals in Mokpo, South Jeolla Province, some 20km south of the airport where the tragedy occurred.

Jeonnam Fire Service said earlier in the day that most of the people still unaccounted for appear likely to have perished in the accident. THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK