Aviation safety expert David Learmount said the tragedy was not due to a landing gear failure but to the concrete structure at the end of the runway
The South Korean airline Jeju Air’s plane went off the runway at Muan International Airport, crashed into a concrete barrier and exploded in a fireball on Sunday. All 181 people on board were killed, except for two.
According to David Learmount, the tragedy was not caused by a failure of the landing gear, but by a concrete structure located next to the runway.
“What happened to the plane, which prevented the pilot from extending the flaps and gear for landing, was not the cause of the deaths of the passengers. The passengers were killed when they struck a solid structure just above the end of the runway, where a solid structure should not be.r,” he said.
He added that the video of the accident shows “the plane was landing beautifully, wings perfectly horizontal, it was sliding on its belly.”
“The pilot had to land particularly quickly, which is why the plane went off the end of the runway. This is why – because it happens that planes go off the end of the runway – we do not place solid structures immediately in the overtaking zone.
The concrete structure contained the landing system antennas which are used to guide the aircraft to the runway at night or in bad weather.
According to the aviation expert, the antennas are normally embedded in the ground suggesting that the tragedy could have been avoided.
Authorities said they would examine whether the antennas of the airport’s landing system should have been covered with lighter materials that would break more easily in the event of an impact.
Similar concrete structures have been discovered at other domestic airports as well as in the United States, Spain and South Africa, according to authorities.
South Korean authorities said Monday they will conduct safety inspections of all Boeing 737-800s operated by the country’s airlines.