Firefighters work at the wreckage of a Jeju Air aircraft that crashed at Muan International Airport in South Korea. - PHOTO: EPA-EFE via The Straits Times/ANN
SEOUL (The Korea Herald/ANN): 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.
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 7C 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.
Ju dismissed speculations that the relatively short runway at the Muan International Airport contributed to the tragedy 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.
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.
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.
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 onboard, right before the plane attempted the landing at around 9am (8am in Singapore).
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.
Jeju Air 7C 2216 was en route 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 confirmed to have died in the crash landing as of 2.40pm local time, out of 175 passengers and six crew onboard.
Two people were confirmed to have been rescued, and are 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
