Did bird strikes contribute to the plane crash in South Korea? What we know

More than 170 people died after a the plane crashed on approach to land in South Korea on Sunday morning.

A Jeju Air plane skidded off the runway before crashing into a wall at Muang International Airport in the country’s southwest.

There were 181 people on board the plane returning from Bangkok, Thailand, 179 of whom died and two crew members were rescued from the wreckage.

Authorities are investigating the cause of the crash, which fire officials say may have been caused by bird strikes and bad weather. However, experts warn that the disaster could have been caused by a number of factors.

Flight 7C2216 was operated by a Boeing 737-800 of Jeju Air, Korea’s most popular budget airline.

The aircraft arrived in Mouan around 09:00 local time (00:00 GMT).

A South Korean transport official said the plane attempted to land but was forced to stall after an air traffic controller issued a bird strike warning.

About two minutes later, the pilot called a mayday and air traffic control cleared the plane to land from the opposite direction, the official said.

Local media reported that one passenger on the flight texted a relative that the bird was “stuck in the wing” and that the plane could not land.

One video appears to show the plane touching down without using wheels or other landing gear. It skidded down the runway and crashed into a wall before bursting into flames.

An eyewitness told South Korea’s Yonhap news agency that they heard a “loud bang” followed by a “series of explosions”.

Video from the scene shows the plane on fire and plumes of smoke rising into the sky. Fire crews have since extinguished the fire.

Lee Jeong-hyun, chief of the Muan Fire Department, said in a televised briefing that the tail section of the plane could be identified, but “the shape of the rest of the plane cannot be recognized.”

He said bird strikes and bad weather may have been the cause of the crash, but the exact cause was still being determined. Board and recorders from the plane were found.

Jeju Air’s chief executive said the crash was not due to “any maintenance issues,” Yonhap news agency reported.

South Korea’s transport department said the flight’s chief pilot had held the position since 2019 and had more than 6,800 hours of flight experience.

A bird strike is when an aircraft in flight collides with a bird. They are very common, with more than 1,400 bird strikes reported in the UK in 2022, with only around 100 involving aircraft, according to data from the Civil Aviation Authority.

The most famous collision with birds took place in 2009, when an An Airbus plane plunged into the Hudson River in New York after encountering a flock of geese. All 155 passengers and crew survived.

Professor Doug Drury, who teaches aviation at CQUniversity Australia, wrote in an article for Conversation this summer, Boeing planes have turbofan engines that can be seriously damaged by bird strikes.

He said pilots are trained to be especially alert early in the morning or at sunset, when the birds are most active.

There were 175 passengers and 6 crew members on board the plane. Two of the passengers were Thai and the rest are believed to be South Korean, authorities said. Many are believed to be returning from Christmas holidays in Thailand.

The official death toll rises to 179, the deadliest plane crash in South Korean history.

All passengers and four crew members died.

At the moment, the authorities have identified at least 88 bodies.

Five of the dead were children under the age of 10. The youngest passenger was a three-year-old boy, and the oldest was 78, authorities said, citing the passenger’s manifest.

South Korea’s National Fire Agency said two crew members – a man and a woman – survived the crash. They were found in the tail section of the plane after the crash and taken to hospital, the report said.

More than 1,500 emergency workers were involved in the recovery effort, including 490 firefighters and 455 police officers. They searched the area around the runway for parts of the plane and whoever was on board.

Acting President Choi Sang Mok has declared Muan a special disaster zone, allowing local governments and victims to receive funding from the central government.

All flights to and from Muang International Airport are cancelled.

The families of the dead went to the airport hoping to find out what happened to their relatives. Reuters video shows officials reading the names of the victims aloud.

The airport authority and the Red Cross set up more than a dozen tents at the airport for the families of the victims to grieve privately.

The sounds of crying echoed through the terminal. Some were disappointed by how long it took to identify the bodies.

Jeju Air apologized to the families. Its executive director said at a press conference that there have been no accidents in the airline’s history. Sunday’s crash is believed to be the only fatal accident since the airline opened in 2005.

Aircraft manufacturer Boeing expressed condolences to the victims.

Choi, South Korea’s acting president, said: “I express my deepest condolences to the many victims of the incident. I will do my best to help those affected recover quickly.”

The government announced national mourning in the country for the next seven days, during which flags will be flown at half-mast at state institutions.