Crash in South Korea: “In a European airport, passengers would undoubtedly have had a better chance of surviving”

Like the investigators, the captain favors the possibility of a bird collision to explain, in part, this crash. “There are always several causes of an accident, but in my opinion the main factor was the bird strike. One or more birds would have rushed into one or both of the plane’s engines, rendering them out of service. “. And André Faber recalls that Muan airport is located near the sea, with the presence of many large birds, “like seagulls“. Shortly before the accident, the control tower had also issued a warning concerning a risk of bird collision. “Birds have always been a danger to planeshe recalls. The phenomenon of bird collisions is quite regular. Most airports around the world have scaring systems, whether visual or audible, to keep birds away. Some people sometimes use hawks to scare them away.”

Aircraft engines are also certified to be able to withstand the unwanted presence of such volatiles while remaining functional. “If we ‘take’ one or two birds, the engine will continue to run. Now, if ten birds rush into the reactors at once, that will obviously pose more problems.” André Faber explains to us that this crash reminds him of an episode that occurred in 2008 to one of his former colleagues, the captain, Frédéric Colson. The latter thus avoided the worst by managing to land a Ryanair Boeing 737-800 at Rome Ciampino airport while both engines were out of service. “We later realized that nearly 200 small birds had flown into the two reactors. Since this incident, Ryanair’s instructions have been strict in the event of a bird collision: you must land at all costs. When your two reactors are affected, your plane becomes a glider But so close to the ground, you are not going to hover for long. So you have to try to land as quickly as possible. “.

According to André Faber, the Jeju Air plane undoubtedly experienced a situation similar to Commander Colson’s flight. “During its first approach, the plane was probably hit by birds. Images are circulating where we see engine 2, therefore the one on the right which is on fire. But the speed, i.e. seven minutes, with which the pilots made their second landing attempt makes me think that the plane was not hit in just one place. One possibility is that both engines were failing. more likely that the aircraft attempted to land on the runway In general, we only attempt this maneuver if the plane has very serious problems.

There remains an enigma. Why didn’t the landing gear engage? Pilot error or technical problem? The investigation will have to determine this. “If you have a complete loss of engines, you can still extend the gear manually. But it takes some time. Once the wheels of the plane are removed with this emergency procedure, you can no longer remove them. so it’s a one shot.”. In these cases, every second counts. “The pilots know that if they ever release the gear too early, they won’t make it to the track. Here, maybe they realized too late that they were going too fast and they didn’t didn’t have time to get the train out.

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Without landing gear, the Jeju Air plane had to make a “belly” landing and go off the runway. Cases are rare but not exceptional in aviation. Pilots often also avoid the worst. But in the case of the Jeju Air flight, the presence of a mound at the end of the runway was fatal. “The plane hit it at a speed ranging from 120km/h to 150km/h causing an almost imminent explosion”.

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But what was this mound doing at the end of the track? “It’s actually an installation of antennas and markings. I don’t know the South Korean standards, but in Europe, these systems are designed to be easily overturned and thus avoid this kind of collision. In several airports in the United States -United and in Europe, these walls are only a few centimeters thick. The surface of the end of the runway is also equipped with a covering (EMAS) which sags under the weight of the plane rolling over it. for the effect of pushing down the wheels of the aircraft as in the mud and thus stop its course”. The Korean device was obviously very different: the “mound” stopped the plane in its tracks, causing an explosion. “In a European airport, passengers would undoubtedly have had a better chance of getting out“, concludes André Faber.

Eyes are once again on Boeing, after this umpteenth accident on an aircraft from the American aircraft manufacturer. South Korea’s Ministry of Transportation announced Monday that it wants to subject all 101 Boeing 737-800 aircraft currently in service in South Korea to “special inspections.”. Boeing’s action also fell at the opening of Wall Street (-4.18%),