Business aviation’s turbulent yr started in late December with Jeju Air Flight 2216 crashing at Muan Worldwide Airport in South Korea, killing all however two individuals onboard. Investigators instructed the victims’ households on Saturday that the flight’s pilots shut off the much less broken engine after struggling a chook strike whereas approaching the airport. On the identical day, South Korea’s Aviation and Railway Accident Investigation Board (ARAID) cancelled a press launch concerning the crashed airplane’s engines, fueling the dissatisfaction of Jeju Air pilots’ union with the investigation.
The chook strike alone doubtless will not be formally declared the crash’s trigger, however it sparked the chain of occasions that led to the catastrophic affect. The flight crew declared emergency after the chook strike. Nevertheless, the touchdown gear did not deploy for touchdown. The pilots tried a stomach touchdown and slid alongside the tarmac previous the top of the runway. The Jeju Air Boeing 737-800 slammed into an earthen embankment bolstered by a concrete wall simply 820 ft from the runway. The affect killed 179 individuals. The 2 surviving flight attendants have been strapped into leap seats within the rear galley, which broke free through the crash with the remainder of the tail part and averted the fiery affect.
The pilots’ union declare investigators are unfairly blaming the flight crew
There are nonetheless many questions surrounding the crash, with the ultimate report but to be launched. In response to Reuters, Jeju Air pilots’ union claims that ARAID is getting ready the bottom to position the blame on the flight crew. Eyewitnesses on the bottom noticed flames and sparks trailing from the suitable engine after the chook strike, however the pilots shut off the left engine. Regardless of duck stays being present in each engines, investigators have instructed that nothing was flawed with the left engine. Moreover, there was no proof supplied that the touchdown might have been safely accomplished with a single engine.
The pilots’ union and the victims’ households imagine that investigators are ignoring the opposite circumstances across the crash, particularly the airport itself. First, the plane would have safely slid to a halt if Muan Worldwide Airport did not have its uncommon earthen barrier on the finish of the runway. Officers claimed it was to guard facility devices, however most main airports go away them uncovered to permit ample open house for overrunning plane. Second, the native chook inhabitants was a identified hazard at Muan. There are three chook habitats across the airport. Korean laws required that 4 airport workers should be tasked with driving birds away from the runway. Nevertheless, just one individual was on responsibility the day of the crash, the Korea Herald reported. Additionally, the deployment of advisable chook mitigation expertise, like sound cannons, was delayed resulting from renovations to elongate the runway.
It will be absurd to declare the crash as solely pilot error when there have been a number of contributing components. Failing to establish these components in both the press launch or the ultimate report might result in these points not being addressed and probably contributing to a future deadly crash.
