Reuters: Experts question bird strike as cause of South Korea plane crash

[Dennis Donovan]

Reuters - Experts question bird strike as cause of South Korea plane crash

By Bart Meijer and Lisa Barrington
December 29, 2024
10:59 AM EST



Summary
•Experts say many questions yet to be answered
•Jeju Air says investigation is underway
•Deputy transport minister says runway length not a contributing factor

Dec 29 (Reuters) - Uncertainty surrounds the deadliest plane crash on South Korean soil, aviation experts said on Sunday, questioning how much impact a potential bird strike cited by authorities could have had in bringing down the Jeju Air (089590.KS), flight.

The apparent absence of landing gear, the timing of the twin-engine Boeing (BA.N), 737-800's belly landing at Muan International Airport and the reports of a possible bird strike all raised questions that could not yet be answered.

The single-aisle aircraft was seen in video broadcast on local media skidding down the runway with no landing gear deployed before hitting a wall in an explosion of flame and debris.

"At this point there are a lot more questions than we have answers. Why was the plane going so fast? Why were the flaps not open? Why was the landing gear not down?" said Gregory Alegi, an aviation expert and former teacher at Italy's air force academy.

/snip/

Deputy Transport Minister Joo Jong-wan said the runway's 2,800-metre length was not a contributing factor, and that walls at the ends were built to industry standards.

/snip

[paleotn]

1. Much more to come on this

Can't figure out how bird strike(s) could preclude gear deployment. It's a hydraulic system on 737 variants, but does have a manual override that uses old fashioned cables and linkages, plus a long, detailed check list on what to do if landing gear hydraulics fail for whatever reason. Just can't figure out how a bird strike could compromise the aircraft's hydraulic system to this extent. Lots of redundancies. Strange, very strange.

[Oneear]

2. The Pilots forgot to use the land gears and this is not how to land a Plane

The Mechanical Checklist for the Hydraulic Pumps Something went wrong, causing failure so that the crew could not stabilize the Plane. How was the Maintenance on the plane?

[ForgedCrank]

3. It is

way too early for analysis and speculation. These media "experts" drive me nuts.
Generally speaking, when something like this happens, there are numerous failures that lead up to the disaster. Sometimes, a large number of simultaneous system failures and warnings can easily overwhelm the crew to a point that they can't even identify which are the most critical in the very short amount of time that they have to react, identify, and troubleshoot. The gear-up landing could have been on purpose as a reaction to reduce the risk of losing something more critical. Of course these disasters also often include crew mistakes or poor judgement or reactions. It's impossible to know right now.
But this crew was in deep doodoo no matter what because the runway they had to work with was half the required length for this equipment loaded out, even on a good day with a functioning airplane. This is all assuming I am getting valid information. What I read stated the runway length at only 2,800ft, which is impossibly short for this equipment and load out even if it were functioning properly.
What a terrible tragedy, it's very sad.