SEOUL, South Korea — A staff of U.S. investigators together with representatives from Boeing on Tuesday examined the positioning of a aircraft crash that killed 179 folks in South Korea whereas authorities have been conducting security inspections on all Boeing 737-800 plane operated by the nation’s airways.
All however two of the 181 folks aboard the Boeing 737-800 operated by South Korean finances airline Jeju Air died in Sunday’s crash. Video confirmed the plane, with out its touchdown gear deployed, crash-landed on its stomach and overshoot a runaway at South Korea’s southern Muan Worldwide Airport earlier than it slammed into concrete fence and burst right into a flame.
The aircraft was seen having an engine bother, and preliminary examinations additionally say the pilots obtained a chicken strike warning from the bottom management middle and issued a misery sign as properly. However many consultants say the touchdown gear challenge was seemingly the principle explanation for the crash.
The South Korean authorities has launched security inspections on all of the 101 Boeing 737-800s within the nation. The Transport Ministry stated authorities are taking a look at upkeep and operation information throughout 5 days of security checks which might be to run till Friday.
The ministry stated {that a} delegation of eight U.S. investigators — one from the Federal Aviation Administration, three from Nationwide Transportation Security Board and 4 from Boeing — made an on-site go to to the crash web site on Tuesday. The outcomes of their examination weren’t instantly obtainable.
Kim E-bae, Jeju Air’s president, informed reporters Tuesday that his firm will add extra upkeep employees and cut back flight operations by 10-15% till March as a part of efforts to reinforce the security of plane operations.
John Hansman, an aviation skilled at MIT, stated the crash was most probably the results of an issue with the aircraft’s hydraulic management programs. He stated that will be in step with the touchdown gear and wing flaps not being deployed “and might indicate a control issue which would explain the rush to get on the ground.”
The Boeing 737-800 — an earlier model of 737 than the Max — is a extensively used aircraft with a great security report, in response to Najmedin Meshkati, an engineering professor on the College of Southern California who has studied aviation security.
He stated the failure of the aircraft’s system for broadcasting location, working its touchdown gear and increasing the wing flaps to decelerate point out a widespread downside that affected electrical and hydraulic programs. He’s assured that investigators will study what went unsuitable by analyzing data from the flight information and cockpit voice recorders.
“These are really the two pillars for accident analysis and accident reconstruction,” Meshkati stated. Like different aviation consultants, Meshkati additionally questioned the situation of a stable wall just some hundred ft (meters) previous the tip of the runway, on condition that planes often do overshoot runways. “Having such a big concrete barrier over there was really very bad luck for this particular airplane,” he stated.
South Korean officers have stated they may look into whether or not the Muan airport’s localizer — a concrete fence housing a set of antennas designed to information plane safely throughout landings — ought to have been made with lighter supplies that will break extra simply upon influence.
The crash was the deadliest catastrophe in South Korea’s aviation historical past in many years. A seven-day nationwide mourning has been declared till Jan. 4.
